A Fallen Angel The Story Of Emmett McCarty
by Charlotte -LOVE
Summary: Emmett Cullen has a story, although it was never mentioned in the Twilight Saga. All you know is that Rosalie found him being mauled by a bear. Well this is his story...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was at the bar with a couple of friends. The sky was overcast, and the clouds held the promise of rain later on. James and Marshall were playing a drinking game, both of them getting exceedingly drunk. Usually I would have joined in with gusto, but not today because today, there was something more important one my mind.

I pressed my hand against my thigh, to check that the small box was still in my trouser pocket. I had been doing this for the last hour, but the thought of losing it was too panic filled.

"Phwoar!" James exclaimed loudly, "Look at the gal who just walked in!"

Marshall raised his drunken eyes away from the beer and onto the door. He whistled in admiration, "She's one to keep. Em, I know that you are keeping your options open but you have got to _look_."

I sighed and glanced at the door, expecting nothing out of the ordinary – I mean, they were completely drunk. But this time, they were right. She was… breathtaking. Her blonde hair waved gently down to her waist and her amber eyes stared confidently towards the bartender. The pub had, at this point, fallen silent apart from the drunken laughter of Marshall and James.

She sauntered towards the bar and leant against it, her perfect curves showing through the thin fabric of her dress. "Excuse me," she purred in an attractive voice, "I believe that my brother and father are here, in one of the private conference rooms."

The barman straightened up and formally nodded, gesturing for her to follow him. "Come this way Ma'am."

She smiled and followed the man out of sight. There was no doubt in my mind that she was something special, a girl like that could not be human. A fallen angel seemed most likely.

Marshall's braying laugh drew my attention back. The room had slowly gained volume until it was the same almost deafening level as before.

"So she was worth something, wasn't she?" James asked, "Do you think that she's called for?"

Marshall snorted, "Duh James, I doubt that she's unclaimed. Her parents would get a lot of standing with a daughter like that. She's probably going to marry one of those upper-class snobs."

"Pity," James mumbled and downed the rest of his beer in a gulp. His eyes rested on a small group of girls and he grinned and Marshall. They both set down their empty beer glasses and tried to get up. Marshall barely managed a step before he fell over but James managed about five before collapsing.

I left them there – they weren't my problem – and headed out towards the lake. Even though it was dreadful weather, I knew that she would be there, she took every chance there was to sail.

I stopped under the avenue of trees that ran down the road. The beach stretched out before me, a long, pebbled crescent that merged into the ice-cold grey water. Bobbing up and down on the waves was a small, white boat with pale blue sails.

A girl was standing by the mast, completely in control, tying and looping roads around the long white pole. She angrily shoved her hair away as the blonde locks fluttered into her eyes.

Perfect. I put my hand into my pocket to check that the little box was still there and then I shrugged out of my top – leaving it thrown over a branch. I ran down the beach and dived into the icy cold water, I bobbed up and down for a while and then dived again, my target was the girl in the boat.

She couldn't see me as I crept up behind the boat. I paddled around to the side, and before she could turn to notice me I gave the boat an almightily _push_ and it capsized.

The blonde girl screamed as she tumbled into the water, she disappeared beneath the waves for a few seconds. Not long, but long enough for me to worry that she was going to come back up.

My fears were, as usual, completely irrelevant because the girl emerged, spluttering and gripping the side of the boat like I was. She rubbed her eyes to clear the water and blinked at me a few times. She scowled furiously as she recognised who it was, I grinned back at her.

"Emmett McCarty!" She screamed at me, flicking her wet hair behind her shoulders, "What do you think you are doing?!"

"I came to say hello, and give you something. But if you don't welcome my hello's, I guess that I'll just go," I sniffed.

She rolled her eyes at me and paddled over to my side of the boat, "And you couldn't say hello the normal way because?"

"You know the answer," I told her, "Because I'm Emmett McCarty and I repulse the normal aspects of life."

"That you do," she muttered mainly to herself, "So you've said hello, what did you want to give me."

An unfamiliar blush rose to my cheeks, "Actually, I wanted to ask you something before I gave it to you."

If we had been on land, she would have been tapping her foot impatiently, "Well what is it?" She demanded, "You know that I'm a sucker for presents."

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her away from her boat, into the open waters. I treaded water with her for a little while, just enjoying the feeling of being close to her. I took one hand away from her and got the small box out of my pocket.

"Emmett!" She giggled and hit my arm lightly, "Everyone will be getting the wrong impression!"

_You have her parents permission_, I reminded myself as I fingered the wet velvet box under the water, _she has no reason to say no._

I ignored her teasing.

"I was wondering, Nissa Gerritsen, if you would, perhaps, like to be Nissa McCarty?" my voice came out nervous – I had never done anything like this before – but when I raised the box out of the water and flipped open the lip to reveal her grandmother's ring, my hand was quite steady.

Nissa gazed at me in shock and reached out to stroke the box. Her eyes were lowered and her voice came out as a rough whisper, full of passion, "Oh yes, it would be my honour." She told me.

My heart leapt in my chest and I helped her slide the ring onto her left hand. But even as I crushed her to me and held her tight, even as she kissed me hungrily, I couldn't stop the thoughts of the fallen angel popping up into my head.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I still couldn't believe my good luck. Nissa and I were out at the most expensive restaurant, it was stretching my salary from work to the max but she deserved it.

Her blonde hair was swept up into an immaculate bun and her dress was hanging beautifully off her. She was sipping from a glass of sparkling water – that probably cost half of the money in its own.

She smiled when she noticed me appraising her, "So what did you order me?" she asked for the fiftieth time this evening.

I grinned evilly, I had not allowed her to order for herself saying that I should know her well enough to order for her. I hadn't told her what I had ordered either – it was going to be a surprise for her. I didn't think that she really minded, she said that she liked my unpredictability. It was hard to hide my grin as I thought of the meal and how unpredictable I could be.

"You'll see when it comes," I told her and she groaned.

Just on time, the waiter came through with a two plates covered with silver domes. He stopped at our table and gave us a small bow (it was a stupidly posh place).

"Sir, your lamb shoulder," he said as he set the platter down. He turned to Nissa and put down the other plate and then straightened and looked at me, "Would you like my to do the honours Sir?"

I shook my head, "No thank you, you've done plenty." He beamed at me and bowed again before retreating back to the kitchen.

I pulled the cover off my meal to reveal the shoulder of lamb. It was steaming gently but it look delicious. Before I dug in, I look at Nissa who was staring at her still-covered plate.

"Should I be worried?" she asked me.

"Not at all!" I reassured her. Then I paused and added, "Well not too worried."

She glared at me and lifted the cover slightly, glanced inside and then slammed it back down. Her glare intensified. "Emmett McCarty, would you care to tell me why my dish is _moving_?"

I snorted loudly and tried to contain my laughter as it threatened to burst through my lips. What could I say? It was nineteen thirty five, and there were lots of experimental foods on the market at the moment! And raw – well, living – insects were irresistible.

"Emmett!" she cried and them look at them again, "Ugh. You better be sharing that." She said, gesturing to my full plate of lamb.

I pulled it closer to me, "Nuh-uh. Not until you eat one of them." I could see the other guests in the restaurant eyeing us curiously as Nissa pulled the cover off completely and groaned in distaste.

"Which one?" she asked, sounding only mildly curious, "One of the cockroaches or the grub-like things?"

I snickered, "I'm nice enough to allow you a choice. It's up to you."

She smiled and picked up one of the wriggling caterpillars. "You owe me the nicest wedding in the world, McCarty." She warned and shoved it into her mouth and chewed quickly. She shuddered as she swallowed and coughed a bit. "Gross! Gross! Gross! You are completely _dead_ Emmett! That was disgusting!"

I laughed at her and reached over to pat her on the shoulder, "It's okay, Niss. I'll eat one if it will make you feel better. Which one?" I examined the plate of moving critters, each of them were trying to scurry up the edge of the bowl to no success.

Nissa pursed her lips as she looked at one creature to another, "I think…" she paused, "That one." That one turned out to be the hugest bug I have ever seen in my life. It looked like a huge grasshopper but ten times more evil. I swear that it was glaring at me.

"Sure." I said and picked it up. It hopped around in my hands trying to escape, "Hey there little buddy, how are you today?"

Part two for my glorious plan. Nissa was watching me carefully as I lifted my hands to my open mouth. My hands became unclasped a tiny bit to early, and the huge bug sprang away, lading on the floor and hopping madly away.

"What?" I asked Nissa innocently, "It got away."

"Emmett!" she yelled at the exact same moment a woman spotted the bug and screamed. It turned into complete bedlam.

The table that spotted it first had been tipped over in the women's haste to get away from it. They were all standing on their chairs screaming while the others accompanying them were trying to swat the bug.

A waiter ran past our table to get to scene and help, but in his hurry he knocked into our table, spilling the bowl of bugs onto the floor. They all made a mad dash from freedom, causing all the tables within seeing distance from us scream as well. More waiters burst out of the kitchen carrying rolled up newspapers and they started to try and squish the bugs. It was possibly the funniest thing that I had ever accidentally caused. Although the fireworks that I had accidentally set off in the mayors office was also pretty funny.

Nissa stood up as well, but not in fear or panic. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my chair. "We're leaving now, Emmett," she told me angrily, "Leave the money and lets go."

I sighed, but I figured that if I pissed Nissa off anymore she would probably take off our engagement ring. I got out my wallet and put the correct amount on the table and let myself get towed out. I smiled and waved at the man who greeted us this evening.

"Thanks for the meal!" I called and Nissa hit my arm hard. Outside, it was cold and the clouds completely covered the night sky. The ground was wet so it must have been raining. I immediately took off my jacket and put it around her shoulders to prevent her from getting ill.

Soft sniggering from a corner drew my attention and I peered into the shadows. Two men were standing there, both looked remarkably similar to the angel that I had seen yesterday. One had blonde hair and the name Dr. Cullen sprang to mind. Was this the towns new, famous doctor? The other man was more of a boy – he looked barely nineteen. He had bronze hair and very dark eyes, almost black. He was the one who had laughed.

"Excellent," he complimented me, "That was truly excellent."

I grinned at him, "Thank you, it's so nice when my work is appreciated." Nissa stamped on my foot, hard, "Ow." I complained under my breath and she smiled widely.

"I'm Edward Cullen by the way," he introduced himself but he made no move to shake my hand.

"I'm Emmett McCarty and this is my fiancée, Nissa Gerritsen. And I have to be taking her home now, bye." There was something about the way his perfect face was that made me think he knew exactly what I was thinking. The corner of this lip pulled up into a smirk as if he had just heard something funny.

"Bye," he said as I led Nissa down the dark street to her home. As we got to the end of the street I heard the door to the restaurant open and I turned just in time to see the angel walking out of the door. Her face was illuminated softly by the light spilling from the windows and she looked even more beautiful than last time. But she didn't look down the street at me, she didn't even notice me.

"What is it?" Nissa asked and tried to turn to see what I was staring at.

"Nothing," I mumbled, it would not do any good for her to know that I was thinking thoughts about the fallen angel girl, "Let's go."

I pulled her back around and walked her home in silence. Once again, as I kissed her goodbye, my thoughts were taken up with the angel.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

My uncle, Jotham, was staying at my house while he did business. This deal was starting to wear me out and the only reason he was still here was that he offered to pay me. Usually, I would have declined this offer but I had to prepare a family home for when Nissa and I were married and that had made me really look at my bank. I had barely enough to support myself let alone for a wife and children.

Jotham was the opposite to me. He was serious, moody and hated all things funny or humorous. This was why he was looked severely unimpressed as he read the culture section of today's newspaper.

I had read it previously as I was still chortling over the havoc that I caused. The best thing was that they were blaming the staff for offering such a dish and for knocking over the table.

"This is disgraceful," Jotham droned at me when he finished reading the paper, "It even mentions your name in there. How am I supposed to make a proper business deal when you are causing this mess around me? It's hard enough being a foreigner to the people, let a lone having an immature nephew. I expect you to behave yourself better from now on. And if I hear one, lone piece of gossip about you then… let's just say that I wouldn't want to be in your shoes."

Translation: I can't think of anything that I could punish you with. But he was my uncle and if my parents heard about my antics then they would probably persuade Nissa's parents to cancel our marriage and that would effectively be the end of my life. "Fine." I muttered at him and stood up to wash my plate.

"But I hear good things about your marriage, as well," god he had an annoying nasal tone to his voice! He kept talking when I showed no interest in asking him what, "Apparently, her parents are very rich. You have got yourself a nice little money maker there, I applaud you. Although you must remember that you need to have a back up sore of income. I suggest you go into business, I could offer you a place at mine. There is a new opening in my new company. It's brand new but soon it will be making enough to money for me to be set for life."

I groaned inwardly. He had been going on and on about this new part of his company and, like the first time he told me about it, I couldn't care less. But he thought that I was supremely interested in it and that I wanted to here every detail of how he would run it and how it would make him enough money every year to support himself and his family. It was a wonder how he tricked any girl to marry him.

"Um…yeah…fascinating." I told him as I dried my plate, "But I have got to go now. Bye!"

He looked almost hurt as I stampeded my way out of the house. I jogged down the road in case he wanted to follow me, although I highly doubted that he would waste his time. I almost turned right to go and check up on Nissa, but then I remembered that I had been given strict instructions by my parents that I couldn't been seen to much with her because then people would get the wrong impression. To be truthful, I couldn't give a care to what people thought but my opinion hardly mattered in a situation like this.

Instead, I took the left turn and jogged at a slow pace down to the gym. I hadn't been here since I proposed and the guys greeted me with open arms.

"Hey Em!" Stuart yelled from across the room, "Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Been busy," I called, "And I'm back now! What else do you want?"

He laughed and continued what he was doing. I received more greetings and calls as I walked over to the weights. Few people were there, because the weights that the gym provided were unliftable for most people, apart from me and little Jim. Little Jim – unoriginal name – was about four foot nine. He was a little midget with biceps that could lift an elephant, it was a hilarious combination but I was the only one who laugh at him about it because I was stronger than him. Anyone else was effectively silenced by one very well placed punch…

He was lifting one of the lighter weights casually, laughing at the pitiful attempts of the others when he spotted me. "Hey there, I missed you. It's no fun being the only one here, I look like a freaky loner."

"You _are_ a freaky loner, LJ." I told him and he laughed it off.

I braced myself and worked on one of the harder ones – well, harder for me, impossible for anyone else – as he spoke again, "So is it now official?" he asked, "You and Nissa? I heard a rumour but you can never tell."

"Yes." I grunted as I pulled upwards. He watched me with wide eyes as I lifted the weight. Not because of the size of it, but because we had a bet that he would propose to his girl first. I had never met her, but LJ assured me that I would like her. He didn't mention her height, which did leave a lot of questions in my mind.

"Damn," he finally muttered as I push the weights upwards from my shoulders to the ceiling. "How much do I owe you?" he asked as I sent the weights crashing to the floor.

"Forty." I told him and he groaned. I smiled contentedly, with all the bets I was winning and the money that Jotham was bringing me, I was on the way.

"Forty, right." LJ said as he rummaged around in his bag for his wallet. He pulled it out and shoved some bills in my hand. "But, for that, I get to organise your bachelor party!" he crowed.

"Bring it on." I said.

Little Jim took this as an invitation to invite the whole gym though. He stood up on one of the benches – possibly so that he could get seen – and the yelled, "Our boy Emmett is getting married!" this was answered by whoops and cheers from the audience, "And we're throwing him a bachelor party!" this was greeted by some louder cheers and a few exchanged glances and grins. Suddenly, I was terrified about what they could be planning. I almost wished that I had stayed home with Jotham.

A few of the men came up to congratulate me – but most of them just stuck to cheering. Once the hype had died down, everyone went back to the exercise they were doing or they chatted with the others. LJ and I turned back to the weights.

"You chose the wrong time to commit yourself though Emmett. Have you seen that Cullen girl? Gawd, she's _hot_!" He emphasized. My ears perked up, was this the angel that I kept seeing everywhere?

"Nissa is everything that I could ever want," I replied automatically, although that was maybe not what was going on in my mind.

LJ shook his head in sympathy, "You need to _see_ this girl, she's amazing. Her name is Rosalie Cullen, apparently, and she's the doctors daughter. And she's not married."

Rosalie. It was a beautiful name and it suited her beautiful face. A thousand nicknames sprang into my head, _Rosalie, Rose, Rosie_. All described the beautiful flower that she was.

"Oh," I replied numbly. Maybe I made the wrong choice… I shook my head, what was I thinking, why on earth would Rosalie Cullen want to be with me? She had never even seen me, and how would I know that she would love me? I would rather pine after her for the rest of my life than she would be in an unhappy marriage. And Nissa loved _me_, I knew that she always would no matter what stupid things I did. She would always love me for me, how did I know that Rosalie would?

"Anyway, your loss," LJ told me, "That just means that the rest of us guys have a chance with her. And when is your marriage planned for? We need to arrange your bachelor party…"

I groaned, "It better be fun, or I'm not coming," I warned him.

"It will be… educational. Let's just say that you will never have been to a bachelor party like it."

Maybe this would be fun…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Nissa lay in my arms on the beach. The moon was high above us and the waves were lapping gently at our feet. It laughed to myself as I remembered the day, a few weeks ago, when I got back from the gym and we walked towards each other with identical faces of dismay.

"Bachelor party?" She asked at the same time I asked, "Bridal shower?"

We both nodded and hugged each other. "_You're_ lucky," I said to her, "Imagine what the guys are going to do to me at a bachelor party? They probably know all the best strip clubs."

Nissa's eyebrows rose, "There are good strip clubs and bad strip clubs?"

"Sure there are, it's like there are bad theatres and good theatres. I mean, there are lots of elements that are needed to make a strip…" I trailed off at the expression on her face, "I'm guessing you neither care or want to care?"

"Nope," she told me and grinned. I grinned back at her, "Anyway, they are _not_ going to take you to a strip club because otherwise I shall murder them. I'll give them a list of where they can take you."

I sighed and rolled my eyes, "You are going to be taking all the fun out of it, you know."

She didn't remark so I guessed that she didn't hear me or was ignoring me. It was probably the second one.

"We aren't going to get any time together, you know. "I warned as I walk with her, "What with your parents dragging you off for fittings and my parents making sure I know what to say and then these parties…"

Nissa looked upset, but then her face cleared and brightened. It was like the sun coming out on a cloudy day. "I know, the night before both of these stupid things, we'll sneak down to the beach at midnight and then spend the night together."

I slung my arms around her and told her, "You make up some amazingly good plans, love."

And that all leads me to lying on this beach with her. It was a day before the parties and two days before our wedding. Soon I would be cradling Mrs McCarty in my arms instead of Miss Gerritsen.

The silence continued and my mind seemed to blank out. Thoughts drifted sluggishly around my mind, but I paid no attention to them. In most ways, I was thinking nothing.

"What are you thinking?" She murmured at precisely the wrong time.

Oh crap! I swore. What was I thinking? Well, nothing was the honest answer but I doubt that would satisfy her. What was I thinking before the nothing? Er…

She lifted herself up to look at me properly, "Emmett? Are you okay?"

"Yep," I told her, well I was until she made me panic.

"So why won't you tell me what you were thinking?" She asked, hurt clear in her soft voice. She turned her face away from me and I gently turned it back to me.

"Because I don't think that you would appreciate the real answer," I told her honestly.

"Which was?" she pressed.

I sighed, "The honest answer was nothing." She look sceptical, "What? I told you that you wouldn't believe me."

"You can't be thinking nothing," she scoffed, "You have to be thinking something!"

I rolled my eyes. "Nissa, do not underestimate my ability to be thinking of nothing. I do it frequently. But I was thinking of something before that." My voice softened and filled with the love that I felt for her.

"What?" she asked, surprised by the depth of emotion in my voice.

"I was thinking about how I will soon be holding Mrs McCarty instead of Nissa Gerristen. And about how much I was looking forward to the moment when I can say that I will look after you and protect you forever." I lifted her hand and kissed her palm gently. I _knew_ that there was something romantic that I was thinking. I really should have said that instead of telling her nothing…

"See?" she said nudging me, "You were thinking of something."

I resisted the urge to argue with her. Instead, I got a small handful of sand – possibly with a few stones – and 'accidentally' dropped it down the back of her top.

"Emmett!" She yelled at me and started squirming around. Sand flowed out of the back of her top; however most of it didn't come out. She reached behind her and flapped her shirt around. A waterfall of sand cascaded out of the bottom of it and onto the ground. Once she was satisfied that it was all out, she crossed her arms and turned her back on me.

"Are you not talking to me now?" I asked. Stony silence greeted my question. I touched the top of her back and ran my hand up and down. I felt her shiver but she still didn't say a word.

I shifted close to her and pulled her back onto my lap, my arms forming a binding trap around her. She struggled, but then relaxed back when she realised that escape was impossible.

"That's the problem with you," she told me and sighed, "I can't stay mad at you."

I buried my lips in her hair, "That's why we're so good together."

"That's why we're marrying each other," she added.

"And," I continued, "It's why we're both enduring bachelor parties and bridal showers tomorrow."

"I thought that was because we had annoying friends." She said and I shrugged.

"It's a mixture," I conceded and she laughed lightly.

We sat in silence for a while longer however I made it an issue to keep thinking something, so that I wouldn't be caught out next time she asked me. I heard a silvery laugh from the pier and both Nissa and I turned to look. It was Rosalie and her mother. They were both walking slowly, arm in arm, laughing at a joke that Rosalie had just told.

"Do you think that she's prettier than me?" Nissa asked when they turned a corner and left our sight.

Luckily, I had an answer already prepared. I snorted, "No, she looks like one of those stone sculptures in graveyards, the really ugly ones that are supposed to be pretty. You, on the other hand, are a fallen angel, made from God's own hand." I tried not to make it seem obvious that I almost thought it was the other way around. Although I did think that Nissa was pretty, just not as pretty as Rosalie.

"Good answer," she complimented and reached up to run her hands through my curly hair.

"True answer," I shot back and she laughed and shivered again as a cold gust of wind blew against her skin, "Are you ready to sneak back in?"

Her parents – and my parents – would never have agreed to this midnight wander. In fact, if they knew, they would have slaughtered us. So, Nissa had done a leap of faith out of her window into my arms. We hadn't planned how to get back in; we were too worked up over our escape.

The walk to her home passed in no time with Nissa next to me. And too soon we stood in her garden, staring up at her second story window. "I could throw you," I suggested in a whisper.

"Or," she said, holding up a key, "I could go through the front door and claim I had to get a glass of water."

I rolled my eyes, "And we didn't do that the first time because?"

She laughed in a whisper, "Because the other way was more fun." I laughed with her and kissed her quickly.

"I guess that I will see you on Sunday." I said.

"In a tux." She ordered, "I'm not marrying a man who looks like a monkey who is wearing his normal clothes."

"A tux," I promised and kissed her again, "No go before your parents wake up!"

"Goodnight," she whispered as she disappeared into the dark. _Goodnight_, I thought to her and ran back to my house, hoping that Jotham wouldn't have noticed my absence.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

This was not where I was expecting to be. I stared up at the sign in confusion. _Liz's Salon._

"What the hell, guys?" I asked as my friends sniggered, "I was expecting some kind of joke but I doubt that the staff here would like us gate crashing their day."

LJ put his hand on my shoulder. Well, he was supposed to, it was more like my elbow, "Sorry Em. Orders from the boss. You are not allowed to go clubbing, drinking, smoking, swimming, to the gym or stay at home. Instead, she told us that you needed a makeover for the wedding. And so… here we are!"

Marshall and the others sniggered, "Except," Marshall said, "We don't know anything about makeovers, so we're heading off to the pub. Jim is staying with you."

I glanced down at the midget, "You know anything about makeovers?" I asked and I thought I saw him blush. I _have_ to know about that.

The other guys headed off, clapping me on the back and LJ led me into the salon. Ugh, that was a horrible word. _Salon_…

"Hello, Sirs," A woman asked from behind the counter, "May I do anything for you?"

A highly educated voice came out of LJ that startled me to the moon and back. "Yes," he told her, "We have a session booked for Mr McCarty. With Emma I believe."

The girl shuffled through the papers on her table until she pulled out a neatly coloured table and ticked a box. "Of course, Emma will be right out."

Maybe it was the whole classy look of the place, but I expected Emma to be better looking than she was. Although, _I_ was probably better looking than Emma. She sat me down in a leather chair and immediately started combing my hair. LJ stood next to me, pointing out all of the mistakes that she made.

"How come you know so much about fashion Jim?" I asked when he pointed out the seventy billionth flaw.

He turned beetroot red and refused to answer my question properly. "I don't," he mumbled.

I snorted, "Yes you do. Emma, do you know?" I looked at her through the mirror and she looked indecisive.

"Yeah I do," she admitted but then fell silent and stared adamantly at the same curl she had been brushing for ages.

"And why does he?" I prodded.

Emma sighed, "Because he once worked here as the top stylist."

I stared at the little midget in shock. He was looking away with his arms crossed but it was too much for me, I burst into laughter. He punched me hard but I carried on laughing. LJ, the strong, uncaring person used to work in fashion… Oh, the endless jokes that I could now use.

"Don't say a word," he told me when I finally stopped laughing.

"Why?" I asked, "Because you'll give me a manicure? Or even worse – a pedicure! H the endless horrors that you can now inflict upon me." I snorted and started laughing again while Emma tried to work around the fact that my hair was shaking so much she could barely brush it.

"This is better than a bachelor party," I decided. I doubt that LJ would ever tell me this if we went to a proper bachelor party. Emma and LJ kept quiet while I sniggered at the new information.

After Emma was done with my hair, everything else had to be done. I felt like a complete girl as she worked on my nails and then started pulling out tuxedo after tuxedo. They were all boring, but then there was one gem.

"I want that one! That one!" I cried, pointing to it. Neither Emma nor LJ looked to pleased with my choice.

"That one?" LJ asked, "But it's pink…"

"Uh-huh! And it's in the pile of approved tuxedo's." I grinned. Nissa really did _know_ me. They other two accepted that I went off to change into it.

"I must admit," I said as I walked out of the changing booth, "This tuxedo does look _fabulous _on me."

LJ made a noise that was a mixture of a sigh and a groan, "We'll take that one, Emma." I thought that that would be it, but apparently there was a lot more to discuss. And LJ the fashion whiz wouldn't let it rest.

When we finally left the sun had set long ago and there was an eerie silence in the city. LJ was spending the night at mine so he could help me get ready tomorrow. We walked speedily to me house and I unlocked the door and crept inside.

"I'm getting married tomorrow," I announced, surprised by how quickly time flew.

LJ looked at me in a confused way, "Are you getting cold feet? Because if you are, I'll punch you."

I snorted, "Or pluck my eyebrows… No, it just comes as a shock after so long of being single."

LJ laughed quietly, "I bet it does. Anyway, you have got to get to sleep. Nissa will kill me if you are hyper on exhaustion tomorrow."

"At least she would kill you and not me." I mumbled at I walked into my dark bedroom and collapsed into my bed. _I'm getting married tomorrow!_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

I woke up jittery with nerves. I glanced at the clock, the hands pointed to some numbers but I couldn't read them because my brain wouldn't concentrate on anything apart from the wedding. I could tell that sleep would be impossible.

I threw the sheets off me and got up quickly, planning to eat something before I left. But as I emerged from my room, LJ came out of the bathroom.

"Bath," he ordered, "Now."

I was too nervous to argue with him so I meekly walked into the bathroom and started running the bath. My patience was limited so I only filled it a quarter of the way before I leapt in and scrubbed myself furiously, making sure that I was impeccably clean. Nothing was going to ruin this day for Nissa and I.

I dried myself as speedily as I could before firmly wrapping the towel around me. Jim was leaning against the wall next to the bathroom in a bored manner, but he jumped to attention as I opened the door. He didn't bother saying anything this time, he just led me to the spare room and I noticed the pink tuxedo lying neatly pressed on the bed. I hesitated before I went in.

"I'm having doubts about the clothes…" I said. Nissa may have put it in because she loves me, but I knew that she would prefer it if I pretended to care about what the town gossips were gossiping about.

LJ smiled. "No problem," he said, "Just in case you had doubts I bought a boring black one."

I looked back at the bed and noticed a small corner of black fabric visible from under the pink. I sighed, was I that predictable? I had to be more reckless.

"Thanks," I said as I pushed the pink one aside and gathered the black one into my arms and walked back into the bathroom to get changed.

LJ fussed over everything, the way the clothes hung – that's what he was constantly calling it – was a big issue for him and also my hair. Even though the woman had brushed it and done god knows what else to it, there were still a few unruly curls that refused to lie flat. Even my hair had a mind of its own.

I glanced at the clock and then did a double take, how was it nine forty already? The wedding started at ten but I had to be there by nine thirty to make sure that everything was ready.

When I arrived, my parents, Nissa's parents, and goodness knows how many strangers were running about in a panic. My mother spotted me and came over, her face set ready for war.

"Hey Mom!" I said cheerily.

"Emmett!" she shrieked, "Where have you been? You're ten minutes late!" Dad was shaking his head at me.

"I was getting ready," I said, scared. Nothing was scarier than my Mom in a mood, "Sorry I was late but LJ would not stop complaining over every little thing."

Mom ran a critical eye over me and nodded, "You'll do. I had a horrible feeling that you would pick the pink one. I was very worried when Nissa showed me the options. But, you picked fine. Well done."

I will not mention the pink tuxedo, I will not mention how close I got to putting it on.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, would you please take your seats," the low voice of the vicar said and I took my place at the altar with my best man, Marshall, behind me. The music started playing and my love, my life, came into view.

My heart beat erratically in my chest and my hands became weak. This was it, she was going to be mine.

Her dress was amazing, hugging her small waist with a large skirt that flared out. A long train fanned out behind her, carried by two of the bridesmaids. A pair of earrings hung down from her ears and a blue sapphire necklace glinted on her chest. Her blonde hair was curled into tight ringlets and an old fashioned tiara kept it from falling in her eyes.

She was watching the floor, a shy expression on her face, but as she neared she looked up at me and I saw a shining light of joy flare behind her eyes.

Her father was holding her hand tightly, possibly because of nerves, but he smiled at me as he placed his daughters hand in my own. He stepped back, and the vicar began his service, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…"

But I was barely listening, because a beautiful girl stood in front of me, beaming with joy. I stared into her blue eyes and I lost track of time, it was only when I heard the words, "Emmett McCarty do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," I said proudly and I swear that Nissa's smile grew wider.

"And do you, Nissa Gerritsen, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" the vicar proceeded.

A tear of happiness escaped from her eyes as she choked out, "I do." I squeezed her hands tightly. The vicar mumbled something else and then announced, "You may now kiss the bride."

I bent my head forward as she reached on tiptoes. The kiss was gentle, and nothing more because of the watching eyes. It would not have been proper to start making out, and Nissa's wedding was not going to be ruined by the town gossips.

My family were suckers for tradition, and so the first dance was preceded by every other tradition in the book. But for once, I didn't care, because I was now holding Nissa McCarty. She was the most amazing person on this planet. And she was wearing a golden ring that meant that she loved me.

Just after the great feast ended, and just before a grand car arrived to pick us up to take us to our honeymoon, I managed to whisper into her ear, "You look stunning, Mrs. McCarty, did I ever manage to tell you that?"

"No you didn't," she giggled and I kissed her quickly.

"Well, you do. And I love you." I told her, "Forever."

Her arms slid around me, "I love you too. Forever."

There were no more words needed. Anymore words would have spoiled the moment. So, of course, that was when my friends arrived to pull us to the car.

"Woo!" James yelled, "Off you two go to Florida! Tell us all the details!"

I think that he was drunk. As were everybody else, including LJ who was swaying and smiling at everything. I told them to limit the wine…

I kissed Nissa one last time before I climbed into the car and shut the door. As soon as we couldn't be seen, Nissa rested her head on my shoulder.

"This has been the most perfect day," she said as the car pulled away.

I kissed her again, I couldn't resist. "The best day of my life." I said and she smiled sleepily.

"Wake me up when we get to Florida," she ordered and took my hand, resting our entwined hands on her white skirt.

"I will," I promised, but she was already asleep. I rested my head back and closed my eyes too. But just before they shut, I caught a glimpse of gold. I went to sleep euphoric.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Do you think that I'll be able to sail here?" Nissa asked as we walked hand in hand down to the small house we would be staying in.

It was just at sunrise, and we were walking down the promenade behind the beach. The waves were gently lapping at the land and the sun was rising behind this, creating a beautiful orange glow.

"Probably," I answered her question, "But you might not ever be coming out of the house…"

She giggled and hit my arm, "Honestly Emmett, I don't know what your planning to do tonight, but I'm planning to sleep." She saw my heartbroken expression and laughed again, "Not really. I'm yours all night."

My arms wound her waist, pulling me closer. "That's what I like to hear."

The place we were staying was where my dad grew up, and facing it, I didn't understand why he left. The house was modern with large windows that faced the sea. It was backed by lots of large trees that waved gently in the wind. A seagull crowed, and Nissa smiled.

"This place is perfect," she told me. "It's just... beautiful."

"Like you," I whispered into her ear.

She punched my stomach gently. "Don't start getting mushy on me," she leaned in and whispered, "That's not why I'm here."

Her tongue traced a delicate line from my ear to my mouth. I opened my mouth quickly and kissed her passionately.

"Let's go inside, shall we?" I said as her hands slipped underneath my shirt, "We don't want to upset the neighbours do we?"

She silenced me with a kiss, "Stuff them, who cares what they see."

"What about your parents?" I mumbled through the kiss, "They might care."

She broke the kiss and sighed, disappointed. "True, they'll be spying on us. Let's go to the bedroom."

She pulled me inside and through the many rooms.

"Pity," I said as we reached the large, double bed. "I was looking forward to a wild, outdoor fl..."

The rest of my sentence was lost in Nissa's lips. I pulled her towards me and we fell onto the bed. Nissa's blonde hair fell down, momentarily blinding me with soft waves. Suddenly I had an overwhelming desire to be with Rosalie, I wanted to be with an angel.

***

Something was tickling my chest. I opened my eyes to see Nissa asleep across my naked torso. Her hair was slipping down, tickling me. A few strands fell across her eyes and I brushed them away from her face. She smiled in her sleep and reached up to hold my hand to her face.

"I'm not lying here for an hour like this," I said loudly, waking her up.

She opened her eyes slowly, squinting against the bright light. She yawned, stretched and sat up, the sheets fell down and pooled around her hips, leaving her half naked.

I smiled as she blushed and pulled the covers up to hide her. I sighed and layed back down on the pillows. Nissa laughed at my disappointed expression and rolled over so she was lying on me.

"Now now, Emmett, don't sulk. We're going to the beach and I'm not dragging a two year old there!"

I crossed my arms and looked away, pushing my lower lip out. She sighed and rolled off me, keeping the covers around her. I watched her out of the corner of my eye, still pretending to be in a major sulk. But then she stood up, the covers sliding off her as she danced to the door.

"Come at get me!" she giggled and I flung myself out of bed and caught her round her slim waist.

She squealed and I put her down gently on the floor. "Excellent," she said. "Now get dressed."

She slipped out of my grasp and wandered over to her suitcase, pulling out some clothes and pulling them on before I could protest.

"You are so annoying," I said as I followed her lead and got dressed, ready for the beach and a long, relaxing honeymoon.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The beach was crowded when I arrived. Nissa had ordered me to pack the food while she went off to get a good spot in the sun. Excellent.

I had a towel wrapped around my waist, because my hands and arms were taken up with food bags and umbrellas so that Nissa didn't get sunburn and ruin her honeymoon. I stood at the top of the small trail that led down to the sea, looking for Nissa. There were a lot of tourists – it seemed like millions – and finding her amongst all of the people seemed to be almost impossible.

I saw her frantically waving before I heard the calls of, "Emmett! Emmett! Over here!"

I started jogging down the hill towards her. The towel slipped slightly, so I stopped to fasten it again, even though I was wearing swimming costume underneath, I didn't want to have to stop and pick it up.

"Hey there," I said as I arrived, dumping everything on the ground next to her.

She grimaced at the large mountain of stuff. "I was going to ask you to have a seat next to me, but I guess not."

"Don't fear!" I said, faking a hero's deep voice. "Emmett is here! And Emmett shall set up camp for him and his lovely wife."

I started to unfold the deck chairs, and set up the umbrella. It should be a three minute job, maybe four if the sand was hard to stick the umbrella pole into.

Twenty minutes later, I was left with a pile of furniture, which was obviously broken. The umbrella (the only thing I had managed to assemble properly as it consisted of stick on pole into the other) was stuck at an angle in the ground because there was a rock in the ground. The deck chairs were folded the wrong way and the legs were sticking on the air on one of them. On the other one, I had ripped the fabric so that you would be able to lie on it without falling down through the seat.

"My hero," Nissa commented dryly as she surveyed the chaos in front of us.

"It's a masterpiece," I objected. "Modern art, I can't believe that you're mocking it."

She smiled, "Whatever Emmett, let's go swimming."

"Race you," I said and she started sprinting towards that sea as I took off my towel and laid it over the pile of crap.

She was already at the turquoise sea, her white sarong was fluttering in the breeze on the bent trunk of one of the palm trees that were placed every so often along the whole length of the beach. I strutted casually after her, leaving my towel behind. I gained quite a few stares, but no one said anything to me.

Nissa had dived under the water to wet her hair, and she came out grinning with water dripping down her face and her hair. She turned to me, to see where I was, and her smile faded.

Her mouth hung open and I grinned and waved at her.

I saw her lips move forming the words, "Oh please, no."

This made me grin wider and I laughed loudly, causing more people to stare at me. I slowly neared the waters edge and stopped, making myself look terrified of the tiny waves that were lapping up on the golden sand. Then, I cautiously dipped a toe in the very shallow tide. I screamed at clutched my heart as if I was being stabbed.

"It's cold!" I wailed like a girl. A few laughs came from the assembled people, but I think that most were in complete shock.

"Emmett!" Nissa yelled. "Come here now or I'm going to kill you!"

I sighed and proceeded into the water. It was actually quite nice and warm. I paddled towards the awaiting Nissa and grinned at her like a puppy does when it knows it's done something bad.

"Would you like to explain what you are wearing?" she asked calmly.

I glanced down and my smile widened. "It's called a speedo."

"And why is it pink?"

"I suit pink, I think it makes me look rather fetching thank you very much!"

"Cretin!" she yelled at me and splashed me.

"Oooooh… You're dead!" I cried and before she could protect herself I pushed a huge wave of water onto her. She went under and I immediately panicked. She came up, spluttering and her arms waved uselessly in the water.

Oh no, oh no! I swam over to her and held her out of the water, she stopped struggling and became to still in my arms. My mind went into overdrive and I was about to cry out in panic, when her hand whipped through the water, dumping what felt like the contents of the sea onto my head.

"Oi!" I yelled when I managed to gain my balance. "Don't do that!"

I felt her leg kick me gently. "Then don't wear pink speedos! Simple."

"Deal," I said and we shook hands professionally.

She lay back into my arms, "Now lets get on with our honeymoon!"

I kissed her gently and she giggled, her wet arms wrapping against my shoulders and her blonde hair drying slowly in the sun.

I wondered what it would be like to hold Rosalie in my arms.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

If I could have had my way, we never would have left the house in Florida. It was so perfect there, and we were so free of troubles. But eventually (after letters from our parents that we came home instantly) we had to pack our bags and leave.

Nissa was of the same opinion and she glared at our house as we got out.

"I want to go back to Florida," she said grumpily. "There are clouds here."

I glanced up at the dark sky. It was the middle of the day and I was used to looking up and gazing at a cloudless blue sky. Here, there was a solid grey wall above our heads. It was depressing.

But I put on a smile and laughed. "You can't blame the clouds for anything. They're just doing what they always do. You should blame your parents."

"And yours." She reminded me and I sighed at her. I was about to kiss her when a window on the second story opened.

A thoroughly disapproving voice called down, "You should not go any further than that or I might mention it to my brother."

I stopped leaning in towards Nissa and glared up at Jotham. "I thought that you would have left by now. I can't give my wife a home when you're conducting business."

"I'm here for the next half year – I told you that when I started paying rent to my own nephew! Nothing about family rates for _you_."

"Yeah, yeah," I interrupted. "Quit the lecture. Just make sure that you stay out of Nissa's way. She's lady of the house."

"Don't say that," she moaned. "It makes me sound like my mother."

Jotham had disappeared from the window and I was about to mention how good this was to Nissa, when the front door was pulled open.

"In. If you want to show your affection, go inside like every other couple. The world does not need to know your business."

I rolled my eyes and I heard Nissa sigh. Nissa started to walk inside, but I was not going to follow my uncles orders. I sat down and leant against the white wooden fence.

"Emmett?" Nissa asked when she realised that I was not behind her. "What are you doing?"

"Lovely day, isn't it?" I responded airily.

"Stop fooling around and get inside this house!" Jotham barked.

I just titled my head back and started talking to myself.

Nissa's brow furrowed in complete disbelief, but she just shrugged her shoulders. "I'll see you tomorrow. I'm guessing that you're going to stay here all night to prove a point that no one but you understands?"

"Why yes I am."

Jotham swore very quietly and stomped back into the house. That made me laugh.

Nissa smiled and waved at me. "Night night Emmett. Sleep well and I'll see you in the morning when I come to get the post."

"Bye Niss!" I called as she walked into the house and closed the door.

It really was a very pleasant evening and I started singing, just to brighten the mood and annoy Jotham at the same time.

"For he's a jolly good fellow. For he's a jolly good fellow. For he's a jolly good fellow! Which nobody can deny. Which nobody can-,"

The front door opened and Jotham yelled, "SHUT UP!"

I laughed, but stayed quiet. Jotham was a fun-crushing soul who would most likely do something horrible like lock me in the house. Or talk to me.

I stared around the small garden without interest. I needed to do some weeding though. And the grass needing cutting. Although, the nettles in the flowerbeds looked quite nice. And the three foot high grass added a wild edge to the whole thing.

Instead of looking at my garden, I turned around to watch the world go by. I knew that cats did this a lot, maybe there was something good about it.

***

Four hours later

No. There is absolutely nothing interesting happening in the world. I have not seen one person do something interesting. There are no pink speedos (or even pink clothes) on men. And I have not heard one person singing yet. Well, I have, but it was a stupidly boring song that you only sing if you are a boring person. I really understand my point in the world now – it is to make sure that people do not die of boredom. Because without me, they certainly would.

And then something interesting _did_ happen. The Cullens walked passed. Well, three of them did. But it was because an angel was among them that made them fascinating.

"Carlisle," she sighed, sending shivers down my spine. "I don't want to move yet. Can't we stay here for another year? It's so nice! And I hate moving new places."

Her mother, Esme, rubbed Rosalie's shoulder. "Don't worry, dear, we won't move until it's completely necessary. If it's what you want then we'll do it. And you know that Edward won't mind too much. I think that he likes it here as well."

She laughed, and my heart fluttered weakly in my chest. Her soprano laugh echoed off the walls of the nearby buildings. My eyes filled with tears. She was so perfect.

"Edward won't be happy no matter I choose."

Carlisle replied to this, but by then he was too far away for me to hear it.

They walked to the end of the street, and turned left. My eyes followed Rosalie until I could no longer see her. But I kept staring at the spot that she left.

It was a while after that, when the sun was just beginning to rise when I realised something. I was head over heels in love with girl I had never talked to. Even though I was newly married to a woman that I loved. I was in love with an angel.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I held back Nissa's hair while rubbing her comfortingly on the back as she threw up again into the toilet.

We had been back for two months now, and Nissa had very suddenly got ill. It had started yesterday however there didn't seem to be an end to it.

"Are you okay?" I asked when she finished.

She nodded slightly, but then shook her hurriedly as she bent back over the toilet seat and vomited.

When that spell had passed over she leant back into my arms. I passed her a glass of water and she gulped it down. She set the glass onto the tiled floor softly and her hands slid down to her belly.

"We need to get you to the doctors." I told her.

She pulled a face. "He's just going to tell us what we already know."

I looked at her confused. "What do we already know? All I know is that you're ill."

She sat up properly and raised an eyebrow as if I was missing something crucially obvious. "Emmett," she said slowly as if she was talking to a three year old. "We've been together every night since we got married. Apart from that first night that we got back. You would expect that, by now, something would have happened."

I stared at her hands that were cradling her belly. This now had a new meaning to it. "You're pregnant?" I asked, hardly daring to believe it.

She smiled and nodded. I reached over and put one of my hands on top of hers. I couldn't feel anything unusual, but I knew that a baby was in there. I was going to be a daddy.

"But we should still take you to the doctors, just for a check up." I told her and helped her stand up, trying not to upset her stomach so that she starts vomiting again.

She steadied herself on the sink while I ran off to fetch her coat from our room. I almost collided with Jotham but I managed to stop just in time.

"Slow down!" he shouted at me. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I'm taking Nissa to the doctors. Now excuse me." I squeezed passed him and sprinted back to the bathroom with Nissa's jacket.

We walked slowly down to the car, and I helped Nissa get in before rushing back to the house to get a bowl. Just in case.

"Ugh… I don't need that." She moaned when she saw the bowl.

"Tell me that when you vomit all over my car."

Thankfully for us, the doctor's was only two streets away and we were there in about a minute. It was just starting to rain as we got out of the car. The clouds covered the whole of the sky from horizon to horizon. Maybe I was being paranoid but this didn't seem like very good luck.

It was warm and bright inside the building. There was a tinkling music playing in the background – the kind that you know you should find annoying but it calmed you greatly.

"Hello how can I help you?" the old receptionist asked.

"Is there a doctor free who we could quickly see? My wife has been ill for the past couple of days and we just want to know what's wrong."

The woman flicked through a piled of papers until she found one that look like a time table.

She looked up and smiled professionally. "Doctor Cullen is free, his room is the one at the end of that corridor. He'll be happy to help you."

Doctor Cullen was reading a paper but he looked up and smiled when Nissa and I entered. Nissa's hands were still cradling her stomach and I saw his eyes notice that.

"Hello," he said politely. "How may I help you?"

"Well, it's my wife. We think that she may be pregnant. But we just wanted to see if we were right and whether it's all going alright."

He smiled more widely and he nodded. "Of course, if you would like to take a seat here."

I sat down on one of the leather chairs and watched as he led Nissa to a bed in the corner. It crackled as she lay down on the paper covering.

"Okay, so what made you suspect that you were pregnant?" he asked as he tenderly felt Nissa's belly.

She stared at the ceiling as she answered. "Well, I know a lot about what happens when your pregnant, from my mother and so on. And so I know what morning sickness is like. It just fits. Especially as I'm newly married."

He nodded thoughtfully and smiled. "Your wedding was the talk of the town for quite sometime after you left. Apparently it was one of the best weddings and you looked very beautiful."

Nissa blushed. "Thank you. Were you not there?"

"No, my family and I had prior commitments." He told her. "So tell me how you have been feeling these past few days."

"Mainly I was just feeling really tired, but then yesterday I started feeling really ill, like I was about to throw up. And then I did start throwing up."

Doctor Cullen nodded thoughtfully but didn't say anything. Nissa seemed to tense and I felt my stomach form a knot.

"Doctor Cullen-," Nissa started to say but he interrupted.

"Please call me Carlisle."

"Carlisle," she began again. "Am I pregnant?"

He paused and then smiled. "I think that you are. Congratulations." He started to say something else, but he was cut off by Nissa launching herself from the bed and into my arms, crying with happiness.

"I'm pregnant!" she cried happily.

"I know, love. I'm going to be a dad."

I smiled at Carlisle as I hugged her. He smiled back at us.

When Nissa was finished with the hysterics, Carlisle continued with what he was going to say to her before.

"If you would like to come to me for monthly check ups then I can tell you how the baby is coming along. And if there are any problems then come and I'll see you as soon as it is possible."

"Thank you, we'll do that." I said as Nissa and I stood up.

The receptionist smiled at us as we left, but I managed to wave back to her. Nissa was still beaming, and her hands were still clutching her belly. But this time it look like she was hugging the baby.

We reached the car just in time. First, because just as we both got in it began to rain. And second as soon as Nissa was sitting down, she pulled the bowl towards her and was sick.

"Ah the joys of being pregnant!" she croaked when she was done.

I laughed and swept her hair over her shoulder.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
Jotham was waiting for us in the dining room when we got back. His expression changed when he saw the tear tracks on Nissa's face. For the first time he wasn't wearing a mask of disapproval, he looked worried.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

I nodded happily but before I could say anything Nissa cried out, "I'm pregnant!"

He froze for a minute and then a small smile appeared on his face. I almost had a heart attack. Jotham, smiling? The world really was falling to pieces around me.

"Congratulations, I suppose. Although I hope that you are going to work harder now Emmett. You can't fool around when you have a child to look after."

I groaned. How did he manage to make every single piece of news a chance to lecture me? Honestly, world war two could start and it would be my fault.

"What?" he snapped. "You have to be an adult now, Emmett. No more childish pranks like that thing at the restaurant."

I made the mistake of grinning at the memory. Jotham launched into his 'Emmett-you-are-a-useless-sod speech. I smiled hopefully at Nissa and she raised her eyebrows but sighed.

"Jotham," she interrupted smoothly. "May Emmett and I be excused? It was a big day for us and I would really appreciate some time alone with him. Just to get some things sorted out – like the needs of the baby."

He forced a smile at the fact his lecture of dullness was being cut short. But let Nissa – pulling me behind her – go up the stairs to our room.

She collapsed onto the bed with a _huff_ and fell backwards, her arms lying randomly around and her blonde hair spraying out like a halo.

I lay down, more gently, next to her, and started tracing shapes on her stomach. Her hand rose to play with my curls.

"You need a haircut. It's grown out again. Get Jim to do it – it looked perfect for the wedding."

I grinned at the thought of approaching LJ with the request of a haircut. He would probably punch me for even mentioning it. And then there would be a big fight which will end with me winning and nothing whatsoever proved or gained… It was sounding better by the minute.

"Any preferences on the names?" I asked.

Nissa looked as if she was thinking hard. Then her face cleared. "Nope. You?"

"I don't know about any boys names-," I began to say but I was interrupted.

"Let's call him Jotham!"

"Oh no! Please! That name just inspires boredom." I couldn't call anyone that, they would just be forced into the life of nothingness that Jotham leads.

She giggled at my reaction. "Just a joke." She soothed me.

"How about Hayden?"

Nissa shook her head. "It could also be a girl's name."

"Aiden?"

She gave me a long suffering look. "Aiden is a grandfather's name. No."

"Alexander?" I asked desperately.

I was expecting an instant dismissal, but instead Niss looked thoughtful. "Alexander is nice. And we could shorten it to Alex if he doesn't like it. And a girl?"

"I like Rose." I said without thinking.

"Flowers are too predictable. I want something more original…"

"Well, we could go with rocks… Let's call her sandstone! Or limestone! Or we could go posh and call her Granite."

Nissa rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean name her after a rock, twit. Just a name that isn't used much."

"How about a tree then?"

"Yeah, let's call her Eucalyptus!" Nissa said jokingly.

I nudged her gently in the ribs. She winced and rubbed the spot. I at least I thought that it was gentle.

"I meant something like Ash, or Willow, or Holly."

"I like Ash the most."

I shook my head. "I prefer Willow."

She shook her head as well, but even more violently. "We can't call her Willow. Willow trees weep."

"I still like Rose the most." I said once again, without thinking.

But Nissa seemed adamant against that name. "I like Ash, but we could lengthen it to Ashlinn. That's a rare name."

"It's pretty too." I murmured.

"Ashlinn or Alexander," she giggled. "We obviously have something going on with names beginning with 'A'."

"They're nicer." I whispered and pulled her onto me to kiss her.

She sighed after it though, and a worried look crossed her face. "How are we going to do this, though? I mean, you make enough money to feed us and house us comfortably, but what about when the baby comes. They're expensive, Emmett."

"Don't worry, don't worry," I soothed her instantly – although I had been worrying about that as well. "I'm probably going to get a promotion soon, anyway. The boss says that I've been working hard lately, it will all be fine. I promise."

"I hope so."

"I know so." I replied tickling her nose.

She laughed, and I started tickling her stomach. She giggled again, but I kept tickling her until she was breathless and had to beat me off with a pillow.

"Stop it, now!" she gasped and I stopped.

"You only had to tell me." I replied innocently.

She hit my arm and I returned it with a hit from the pillow.

"Ow!" she complained and rubbed the spot where I hit her.

I rolled my eyes. "It was only a pillow Niss…"

She glared at me. "It still hurts. Is it filled with rocks or something?"

I laughed, and shook my head in disbelief. For a girl with such a strong personality, Nissa really was an unbelievable wimp when violence was involved.

She stood up and walked away from me, reaching down to pick up her pajamas from the floor. I rolled my eyes when she walked into the bathroom to change – I mean, we were married!

It didn't take her long to change, and she was soon back wearing her gorgeous silk pajamas that she had got for a birthday present from one of her friends.

"I like it," I said approvingly and she blushed slightly. Her blush surprised me; usually she would retort a sly comment. "What's up?" I asked, nervously.

She shook her head and her mouth twisted into a grimace. "Oh nothing. It's a stupid little thing."

"What is it?"

She shrugged. "It just feels... Wrong, saying stuff like that when I'm pregnant. Like, I dunno, because we're going to be parents we should be more mature."

I rolled my eyes, but then said in a more serious tone, "Nissa. You are only two months pregnant, the baby can't even hear us, I think that we can keep being three year olds for a few more months."

"Fine," she sighed and then whacked me with a pillow.

"Oooh, you asked for it!" I said and hit her back, twice as hard. She winced, but didn't surrender.

We only stopped because we heard Jotham walking up the stairs slowly. Quickly, we dived under the covers and feigned sleep, like you do when you're nine and you can hear your parents coming up to check on you.

My eyes opened when Jotham got to the top of the stairs and paused outside our door, probably checking to see if we were sleeping. Nissa was also staring at me, and she pressed a finger to her lips. I grinned and moved her finger, replacing it with my lips. I didn't know if Jotham left or not, because I was suddenly very interested in my wife's lips.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Are you sure that this is normal?" I asked Nissa as she vomited copiously into the toilet.

She finished and raised her head slightly to meet my eyes. "No it's _not_ normal."

"Well why did you say that it was fine yesterday!" I demanded. "I could have taken you yesterday, but oh no, you had to be brave!"

"Emmett, just please ignore that. I was wrong and need to go to Doctor Cullen."

I saw her eyes cross in pain but then she squeezed her eyelids shut. Her hands fluttered down to her stomach and her fingers clutched the fabric of her shirt.

"Okay, we'll you get there now." I said and picked her up, cradling her to my chest like a baby.

It had been six months since our first check up with Carlisle, and it had all be fine. But then yesterday Nissa started complaining about her stomach ache and early this morning she had run to the bathroom and vomited. It had been like that for the past hour.

I ran downstairs as fast as I could, probably waking Jotham up but who cares and helped Nissa into the car.

Thankfully, the Doctors was open however it wasn't too busy. Not that it would matter if it was, I would get Nissa a doctor no matter if it meant somebody else died.

The receptionist's eyes widened when she saw Nissa. I looked down and my heart beat more frantically, there was sheen of sweat covering her face and her hair stuck to it. Her eyes were closed, but not peacefully, they were scrunched up as if she was trying very hard to scream.

"We need to see Doctor Cullen _now_."

She nodded. "Go straight in."

He was reading a book when I entered, but he swiftly put it down when he saw Nissa. I laid her gently down on the bed and then moved to let Carlisle closer to her.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. Yesterday she said that she had a really bad stomach ache, and then she started throwing up this morning."

Carlisle's brow furrowed and gently shook Nissa's shoulder. "Mrs McCarty? Can you hear me?"

Nissa opened her eyes and gazed at Doctor Cullen. "It hurts." She whimpered. I wasn't sure who to though.

"I'm going to make it better, I just need to know a few things first. What did your stomach ache feel like?"

Nissa's eyes closed and I could see her struggle to open them. Her vision was slightly out of focus and her gaze kept roaming away from the Doctor's face.

"I don't know," she whispered. "Like something was in the wrong place?"

"Okay." Carlisle looked like he was making a list in his mind. "And did you find that you often felt weak or out of breath? Or maybe things hurt more, like if you stubbed your toe it would feel like it was broken?"

"Yeah, but that's been going on for a while." Her voice was coarse and she took a breath after each word, like her lungs couldn't get enough oxygen.

Doctor Cullen nodded and his mouth formed a reassuring smile, Nissa closed her eyes again. As soon as she couldn't see him, Carlisle's expression faltered and changed to resignation mixed with hope. But the hope quickly disappeared as her felt the bump on Nissa's belly.

"What is it Doctor?" I asked quietly. "She's going to be alright isn't she?"

"I'm sorry. There's been a complication." He said. "The baby has moved."

"Moved?"

He shrugged helplessly. "It happens sometimes, though it's very rare, I've only read about this sort of thing before. In the early months, the foetus somehow becomes... dislodged. And it moves. Usually, this would be no problem, but it has grown on top of one of her main nerves, squashing it."

"And that's a bad thing?" I hated showing how ignorant I was, but I needed to know everything.

"Nissa won't be able to have a full grown baby on top of her nerve. It was paralyzed her in the best circumstances, and kill her in the worst. The baby would be able to live if she was paralyzed, and if she dies then we would be able to get the baby out it time."

"What can we do?" Carlisle somehow managed to hear the strangled whisper that came from my lips.

"You can either leave the baby and risk Nissa, or get rid of the child."

"Will we be able to have more children?" I asked grimly.

Carlisle nodded. "Yes, this was just unfortunate, it would not happen again."

I nodded and sighed. I knew what was going to have to happen. I mean, I loved my unborn child – but there was simply no way that I could live without Nissa. And we could have more, I would never be able to find another Nissa. I had to work hard to crush the image of Rosalie that popped up in my head. I would _not _be able to find another Nissa.

"I can't let Nissa die." I said finally.

"You're going to kill my baby?" a weak voice asked from the corner.

I turned to see Nissa trying her hardest to focus on us. She had definitely heard exactly what had happened, and I could see that she wasn't going to give her baby up without a fight.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"I'm not giving it up." Her voice was a lot stronger now, but I could hear the amount of effort it took to keep the pain out of her voice.

"Niss…" I began but I didn't know how to phrase what had to happen

"No Emmett! This child is…a part of me. I can't get rid of it, even if it saves my life. I have to keep it."

"Why?" I asked. Doctor Cullen had left the room silently to give Nissa and me some privacy, it was kind of him.

Her voice broke as she answered. "Because I love it. It's like asking me whether to kill myself or you, it's an easy desicion."

"I hope that you would choose me in that situation." I responded tightly. "Because if you chose yourself I would be following you to heaven very, very quickly."

She eyes focused on my face. "I could never kill you. Just as you could never kill me. Unless you would kill me?" I didn't bother to answer, it was a stupid question. "Can you not understand what I feel towards this baby?"

Tears streaked down her cheeks, and her eyes fluttered closed. A shadow of agony passed across her face, like a cloud covering the sun. I couldn't tell whether it was caused because of what she was saying or from the child.

I was silent for a moment, processing what she said. But I couldn't let her die, not for anyone in the world.

"Nissa," I said slowly and carefully. "When I said my vows to love you, I meant it. And, I can't let you die. Not for anyone. Not even for someone else that you love. I know that it's selfish, but you are not going to die, I'm not going to let you. And how can I raise out child on my own? I wouldn't be able to keep it and I would be completely alone – without you. That's a kind of torture that I cannot bear."

Nissa's mouth turned down in the corners, but she didn't open her eyes.

"I asked Doctor Cullen about what's happened. If we don't have this child, then we can have more. This is just bad luck. _Please_, Nissa, just _please_, let yourself live. We can have another child so soon. Tomorrow, if you want! Just, please, don't keep it."

Her eyes opened and she stared at me. I could tell that the choice was ripping her apart. And I felt like crap for making her do that, but she needed to know what I thought.

"I…" Nissa stopped and then tried again. "It's like you said. I can have more."

I smiled relief, although I could see what it did to Nissa to betray her heart like that.

"Thank you." I took her hand in mine and gently kissed her. She kissed me back, but I could feel her reluctance behind the kiss.

"I shall go and get Doctor Cullen then." I murmured and kissed her once more before leaving.

In my mind, she made the right decision. But I felt so bad about it, like I had tricked her into something that she didn't want to do. I knew that she didn't want to do it, but I didn't think that I had tricked her.

Carlisle was waiting outside the door. "So what's your decision?"

"We don't want to have the child."

He nodded and smiled reassuringly. "It will all be over soon. Stay here, I'll call you in when she's okay to see."

He entered the room as I sat down heavily on one of the wooden benches. A few more nurses and doctors walked passed and went in the help Carlisle, but that was it. My head fell into my hands, wondering what we had ever done to deserve something as pain filled as this experience.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Nissa's face was grey and she clutched her stomach where there was new a pink puckered line, wrapped up in several layers of white linen cloth. My heart lurched with pity, but I knew that pity was the last thing she wanted from anyone.

Her face was covered in a light mask of sweat, and every time she moved it glistened in the sunlight that was streaming in through the window. Her hair was falling around her face, sticking to it wherever it met the wet skin.

We were in the sitting room on our own. Jotham had left as soon as I had described what had just happened. For once, I saw a real surge of emotion in his eyes, that was neither scorn or disapproval. But, just like Nissa, I didn't want any of his pity. Nissa was lying on the couch, her feet propped up on one armrest, while her head lay on the other. I was sitting in a chair placed near her face, with a book in my hands. Our radio was playing in the background.

The surgery had not taken as long as I had thought it would. Only an hour. An hour to remove the child that meant everything to my wife. An hour to change her from the happy, cheerful girl she was, to the sad, depressed woman in front of me. I wondered what they did with the body, but then as the options came to me, I realised that I really didn't want to know.

When Carlisle had come out of his surgery, he was wearing a completely clean, white apron. He smiled wearily at me, and I noticed for the first time the dark shadows under his black eyes.

I had leapt out of my chair, a million questions jumping to my lips, but he had kept me quiet by waving his hands at me.

"She's fine, everything went alright," he had told me. "It was harder for me than usual, but that's for personal reasons…" It had looked as if he had wanted to say something else, but he thought better of it.

"She's going to be okay?" I asked, just to be completely sure. Carlisle had nodded and I had sunk back into the chair in relief.

"Emmett." Nissa whispered through dry lips, wrenching me back into the present. I had never seen her so unwell before. Just one short operation had turned her into the zombie woman that I saw before me.

"Yes? Do you want anything? Water? Food? A blanket? More cushions? A sheep?"

Her lips pulled up at the corners. "A sheep?"

"Yeah, you know, one of those woolly things that go _baa_." I did my best impression of a sheep (which I must say is quite good).

She gave a proper smile, even though her eyes remained firmly closed and her fingers tightened around the wound. "You are so ridiculous Emmett, I would love to know how your brain works."

"You would have to find me a brain first," I joked. "But what do you need, seriously. Food? Drink?"

"I just want you. I don't want to be alone."

This confused me.

"You have me. And you're not alone – I'm right here next to you." I soothed.

"No," she protested weakly. She would have shook her head if she had had the strength to do so. "I need you to hold me. I've got so used to being with someone all the time – I don't feel right on my own. I need to have someone with me again."

It took me a moment to realise that she was talking about the baby. The air was still and the room was silent as I grasped exactly what she was telling me. First, she still loved me, even though I had told her to get rid of the child that she loved. And second, she knew that I wouldn't be able to hold her forever, and she knew that a child would. It seemed too soon to be thinking about trying again, it was definitely too soon to be hinting at it. But I didn't tell Niss that, instead, I stood up and wedged myself onto the couch so that I was lying next to her. Without saying a word, I pulled her into my arms, and buried my lips in her hair.

The surreal thing about that moment was the way she lay so still in my arms. She didn't respond in anyway, she didn't start crying which was good, but she didn't move any closer to me like she usually would. She was empty of tears. Empty of emotions. Empty of everything. We needed to try again. Soon.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

I sighed. LJ looked at me with his eyebrows raised – but I was too aggravated to acknowledge him.

Two very long months had passed. Both passed so slowly for different reasons. The first one was easy for everyone to understand – Nissa was recovering from surgery and losing her child. Because of this, I had to stay with her every minute of the day. I couldn't go to work and make the money we desperately needed because Nissa needed me and I wasn't going to leave her alone with Jotham.

But she had recovered quicker than Carlisle thought, and was back to her normal self by the end of the month. Which left the problem that was staring us both in the eyes, but we refused to acknowledge. Nissa wasn't getting pregnant.

Okay, it has only been a month and that isn't enough time to start getting worried, but after the first… disaster, everything seemed to be a bad omen.

On the plus side – if there even was one – I could go out again. Mainly, it was just to work, but some evenings I slipped away to the pub or the gym or wherever. I felt bad for leaving Nissa, but she kept telling me it was no big deal and that she would be going sailing again really soon but she never did.

"What's up?" he asked when I failed to explain myself.

I exhaled deeply and glared down at my empty beer glass. "The usual. Nissa, work, money, the alcohol has run out. _Again_."

"Well the last one we can sort out, it's Rob's turn to get the drinks anyway."

Robert looked up from his conversation with the guy next to him at the sound of his name. "What?"

"More beers." LJ ordered.

He nodded slowly and jammed his hand into his trouser pocket to get some money.

"Get me three!" I yelled to his back as he made his way over to the bar, then I sank my head back into my hands.

Marshall – who wasn't drunk due to the fact he had an interview tomorrow – looked at me shrewdly. "You're no fun anymore Em." He noted.

It took every single last nerve not to yell at him. But I didn't want to draw attention to myself, so instead I settled with squeezing the wooden table in front of me so hard that it splintered. As soon as the beers were put in front of me, I chugged them down. Probably setting a world record. When they were empty I was in a much better mood, I grinned happily at nothing in particular.

"I'm going for a swim."

All heads turned to me.

"I'm coming!" Marshall shouted. There were other noises of approval from anyone else.

The whole group, apart from a few boring people, got up and left the warmth of the pub. Outside, it was still light, the sun hadn't set, but it was windy and cold. But that didn't stop of us walking down the streets, our faces buried in our coat collars. I glanced at my house as we passed on the way to the beach. The lights were out. A sudden idea burst into my mind, you could probably see the light bulb pop into existence above my head.

"Guys, just going to get something, I'll meet you down by the beach okay?"

They kept walking down so I took it as a yes and crept into my house. It was quiet and I winced when I stepped on the loose floorboard. There were still a few bags from our honeymoon lying in our living room. They contained the stuff that we never needed so we never unpacked. I unzipped the largests one and searched through the pile of junk inside. I found what I was looking for and grinned. I really hoped that there wasn't anyone of importance on the beach.

The guys were already in the sea, laughing and yelling at each other about how they weren't feeling the cold. My coat was wrapped tightly around my body, the wind was picking up slightly.

"H-h-hey Em-m-et!" One of the called, his teeth chattering so much he couldn't get a whole word out. "C-c-come in-n th-the wa-t-t-er's l-l-lovely!"

Most of them had stripped down to their underwear or off completely. Well it wasn't that surprising, none of them would want to get their clothes wet and nobody carries swimming costumes around with them. Which is why I'm glad I thought to get mine as I passed the house.

"Okay boys are you ready!" I called to them.

They looked slightly puzzled. Well the ones who were listening to me did. "F-f-for what-t?"

I pulled my coat off. "The return of the speedo!" I yelled. There were cheers all around as I ran to the edge of the pier and cannonballed off it.

The water was like an icy shock to my lungs, and I surfaced spluttering and coughing. Already I could feel my fingertips going numb. I felt the serenity of being drunk leave me and be replaced by the horrible feeling of being sober. Man, I really didn't think about cold water being the cure for being drunk. Well this sucks then.

LJ swam over to me. I treaded water patiently while I waited. He reached me and grinned, the cold not taking such a huge effect one him.

"You really what idiots we must look right now."

I glanced up and down the deserted beach. "LJ, it really doesn't matter. There's no one _on_ the beach."

"Some people have just started walking down the road." He pointed and I turned to check. And then my heart stopped.

Rosalie Cullen was strolling down the street accompanied by a good-looking man. His dark skin was proof that he wasn't one of the Cullens. She giggled and placed a hand over her mouth as if she was shy, it made her look adorable. He said something else and she laughed again, looping her arm through his as they kept walking.

My heart felt as if it had been torn to pieces. I wanted to go up and beat that man to death – how could Rosalie do this to me?

_She hasn't even met you yet – how is she supposed to return your feelings when she doesn't know that they – or you – even exist?_ A logical part of my brain was whispering these things that I ignored.

"What's up?" LJ asked when I failed to say anything for a long time.

"Oh, nothing-," I stopped short. LJ was swimming about five feet away from me. I glanced at the others, doing a quick head count. Twice. Yep, they were all there. So _what_ was brushing against my leg. "LJ? There's something touching my leg."

He shook his head like I was avoiding the subject. "It's probably just a fish or something – it will go away-."

"A fish?!" I yelped and then kicked my legs as hard. I felt something wildly hit my ankle, and I screamed like a girl, shooting off towards the beach, my head plunged under what so that I would move faster. I dragged myself up onto dry land I stood there shivering. This was _not_ turning our to be a good day.

LJ looked like he was drowning he was laughing so hard – the other's just looked really confused. I picked up my coat and shrugged it back on, glaring at LJ who was manically splashing the water everywhere because of his hysterics.

"What?" James asked. "Did we miss something?"

LJ obviously wasn't enjoying my suffering enough to leave it alone, because he managed to choke out the words: "Emmett's…afraid…of…fish!"

"Seriously?" Marshall asked me and I turned on my heel and stalked down the road. I looked up and down for Rose, but they had already disappeared. What a pity, I felt like punching someone.

Nissa must have been sleeping badly, because our bedroom light was on when I got back. Thankfully, I had had the sense earlier to keep my clothes downstairs – I doubted that Nissa would appreciate my humour at a time like this. I picked them up and went into the kitchen, filling the kettle at the same time so I had an excuse to be down here. I lit the stove and put the water onto boil.

I was wearing normal clothes, stirring the two cups of tea I was making, when I heard the pitter-patter of Nissa's footsteps on the stairs. She was wearing her silk dressing gown and slippers. It hung loosely off her body – I hadn't noticed before how much weight she had lost…it wasn't good, she didn't look _healthy_. There were dark shadows under her eyes from too many sleepless nights. I felt like shaking my head sadly, this was not the woman I married.

"I was making us tea," I told her when she came in. "It's almost done."

She smiled and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. "So what did you do today?"

I thought about this. She would hardly be pleased if I told her that I got drunk and then went swimming in a pink Speedo. "I discovered that I'm afraid of fish." That was truthful.

She eyebrows creased. "Afraid of fish? Where did you discover that? Thanks." I set the tea down in front of her.

Oh crap. I would have to start lying. "One of Marshall's cousins was is over from California. He fishes apparently. He was showing us his latest catches – they were freaky."

Nissa laughed quietly. "The fish bite better at night?"

I shrugged. "Apparently. Is there something wrong? You don't sound happy."

She shook her head. "No…well, yes…but I would rather not tell you."

I froze. This was not good. I pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. "Niss, we're married. If you can't tell me – than who can you tell? A problem shared is a problem half-solved."

"You know that I hate those corny things." She rolled her eyes at my foolishness, then her good humour was gone and it was replaced with the sad Nissa that I hated. "You were out tonight to look at _fish_."

Of course it would be about that, why could I never tell a lie to save my skin? "Nissa, it's been a month. We've tried every single night for twenty three days! It won't matter if we miss one night."

Wrong thing to say. "That _one night_, might be _the_ night! Emmett, do you not care about our family? Do you care about anything! We need this child, and all you can seem to do is joke and act if it's no big deal!"

"We do not _need_ this child, Nissa. We _want_ this child."

"I need this child! And you obviously don't even want it!"

"Well, no, I don't! Not when it makes up fight like this! Not when it makes you look like a corpse bride! Have you _looked_ in a mirror lately, Nissa? Because I can tell you that you don't look so good anymore. You aren't eating, you aren't sleeping! This is killing you!"

"It obviously isn't because I'm still alive and yelling at you."

I stopped shouting, the anger draining out of my body. "Exactly, Niss. You're yelling at me. I'm yelling at you. This isn't us, can't you see that?"

"I just want this baby, Em. And I know it's only been month – but after every night when nothing happens, it just feels inevitable. Can you take time of work tomorrow so we can see Carlisle – I just need to _know_. I can't stand not."

_More_ time of work? My boss will kill me, but this is more important. I nodded. "I'll make an appointment."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I sat in the waiting room. Nissa was reading a magazine article about growing your own potatoes. Who would want to do that? Much easier just to buy them.

The receptionist, Margaret, had smiled at us when we came in and said 'Carlisle will be out soon, he's just dealing with another patient.' Doctor Bray walked past us followed by Nurse Waters, those two were engaged, their wedding was in four weeks and three days. They both smiled when they saw us. Doctor Hurly, who was the OT here, ran passed us with a cloth and a bucket of soapy water. Will Peterson, the annoying young man who was Doctor Cullen's student, followed with a grimace on his face. Carlisle must have handed him over to Hurly for the day. He did that a lot whenever there was a patient who was female.

I sighed internally. It was very bad when you knew all of this stuff about hospital personnel and when they knew all the same stuff about you. In fact, we could probably move into this hospital, it was almost like home.

An elderly woman walked passed us and then Carlisle appeared at the door and smiled at us. "Emmett, Nissa, come in." He greeted us with the familiarity of old friends. Which I suppose we were now.

"So how are you coping?" The question was mainly directed at Nissa, she grimaced.

"I'm okay, I guess. But it's not getting any easier, living without the baby I mean." I closed my eyes, and wished with all my heart that this baby mess would go away. The normal Nissa would have provided Carlisle with her whole life story, how her friends were helping, my latest pranks. Now I felt the need to hide all of my pranks away from her, in case she disapproved, the old Nissa would have laughed along with me. A mental image of Rosalie popped up in my head, I remembered her carefree laugh. The tinkling of bells that always announced her arrival. Rosalie was always laughing.

"And you Emmett?" Carlisle's voice broke through my thoughts.

"Oh…well…it's very hard. Mainly for Nissa, but that makes it extremely hard for me because I want to make her feel better but I just can't." And so I end up drinking at doing stupid things. Like confronting fish in the sea in a pink Speedo.

Carlisle nodded slowly and stared at me, his amber eyes piercing. "So what can I do for you today?"

Nissa and I exchanged wary glances. I spoke for the both us when I answered. "It's been a month, which isn't exactly a long time. But we've been trying every night and nothing! Not a thing. Last night we actually started _fighting_, which may be normal for some couple, but not us."

"We just need to _know_. I just need to know whether I'm chasing a lost cause." She said those words so calmly, as if it didn't matter as much as it did. "Is there a way to find out?"

Carlisle rested his head on his hands and inspected Nissa closely. "For Emmett, it's just a simple blood test. For you, I'm not so sure it would be simple."

"Why? Would it damage my chances?" I could see worry scrolling across her face.

Carlisle shook his head. "No, if it returned positive then you would just have to be patient and keep trying. And if it returns negative, there's not much we can do about. But it's _you_ I'm worried about. You're looking very unhealthy Nissa, and I don't think that a blood test is the best thing for you right now."

"Do it." Nissa snapped.

"But-," Carlisle was trying to bargain with her. Did he really think that that would work? Nissa was still as stubborn as she was at the beginning, a trait that I almost wished she had lost.

"Do. It." Nissa commanded, her eyes snapping with fury at the thought of being so close to an answer but having in pulled away.

Carlisle nodded sadly and turned to me. "Emmett, will you have a test as well? To see if you're fertile?"

I took a peek at Nissa. Her face was almost smug, she wasn't worried about my answer. _Do I have a choice?_ I asked Carlisle silently, but he didn't answer. I nodded "Yes, of course I'll do it."

He nodded and hurried out the room. I looked at Nissa and smiled at me and mouth _thank you_. As if she hadn't guessed that I would say yes – because I still would do anything for her.

Carlisle returned with Nurse Waters. She smiled at us in greeting as she pulled two needles out of their sterilised wrapping. As Carlisle was fastening the tourniquets, I started asking her questions.

"Hey Nurse Waters, how's the wedding planning coming along?"

She smiled. "Excellently, thank you. Not much left to get, just all the food. I hope I'll be seeing you two there?"

Nissa nodded and managed her imitation of a smile. I could see her eyelids droop, neither of us had got much sleep last night. "Of course, we wouldn't miss it for the world."

Carlisle looked at Nissa with concern. Her eyelids dropped closed and her head drooped forward. She began to snore. I counted the seconds until the moved, Nissa always moved in her sleep. Her knee wobbled and I smiled.

Nurse Waters and Carlisle looked at me for an explanation. I shrugged. "Neither of us got much sleep last night. Take the blood while she's asleep, I don't want to wake her up."

Carlisle picked her up so easily I wondered how much weight Nissa _had_ lost. I mean, she wasn't very heavy to begin with but it was unnatural to lift a person with that much ease. Then he came for me, brandishing a needle. I stuck my arm out and watched her plunge the needle in, it was fascinating how easily the needle went it. Like a knife into butter. I poked my arm with my free hand, testing whether skin really was that soft.

"Emmett, please, your messing up the blood flow." Carlisle didn't say it in an annoyed way, more the patient tolerance of a father. He rolled his weight onto his left leg and I caught a glimpse of Nurse Waters sticking the other needle into Nissa.

"And that's all we need." He told me, pulling the now full needle out of my arm.

I watched him hand the needle to Nurse Waters who bustled out the room with the blood. "I pray to God that it comes back positive." I murmured out loud.

"It means that much?" Carlisle asked.

I nodded. "I don't want to imagine Nissa if it doesn't."

We both fell silent and I got out of my chair to stand by Nissa. The troubles that haunted her when she was awake obviously didn't leave her dreams alone. A frown was etched into her forehead, long lines above her eyes that never left. I stroked her face softly, like I used to before everything got so complicated. My heart leapt as she leant into my hand, leaning against it.

"Having children is a miraculous thing, you know." I jumped, it had got so silent that I had forgotten Carlisle was even in the room.

"I thought that you adopted." I said, almost rudely but Carlisle didn't seem to take offence.

"We did. My wife can't have children, and although she hates it, adoption works just as well. My son and daughter are perfect, even though they aren't actually _mine_."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked numbly, it felt as if he was trying to convince me to give up.

Carlisle sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead. "I don't like Nissa's chances. I told you that the procedure to remove the baby was simple, at it was, but those sort of surgeries do carry risks. Every heard of a D and C?"

I shook my head.

"It's dilation and curettage, it's what we did to remove the baby and the placenta with Nissa. It's the simplest method when you are that far ahead in your pregnancy, but there have been lots of cases where the operation leaves scarring, which doesn't allow the baby to implant again. There's a fifty fifty chance of that happening and I'm worried that it might. If it has, you need to offer Nissa the chance to have a child. In anyway. I know what it's like when a mother loses all hope, and it usually has disastrous consequences. Just let her know that there are other ways."

This time, I nodded.

But Carlisle wasn't done offering advice. "But for the first few days, let her be alone. If the tests come back negative, then she'll need time to heal herself naturally. Maybe take her to her parents house, let her sort things out without your influence, just for a few days."

"Emmett?" I turned, my heart jumping up into my throat. Had Nissa heard any of that? But her eyes were tightly closed, and she was still moving restlessly. I sighed in relief, it was just a dream.

Another few minutes of silence ticked by, growing more awkward as the seconds went.

"How long does it take for the results to get back to us?" I asked.

Carlisle shrugged. "Usually half an hour, but it's a very slow day today, to I would guess ten minutes. Fifteen tops."

I sighed and settled down in my chair. If Carlisle suspected that the results would be negative then I couldn't help but be a pessimist. What was I going to do? To me, a child would be wonderful but I could live without one. To Nissa, a child was the meaning of life. Which meant that we would have to adopt – because I cannot imagine what would happen to Nissa if she didn't.

"How can you tell if there is scarring by doing a blood test?" I asked suddenly.

Carlisle looked up from the paper he was reading. He looked at me curiously. "Are you interested in medicine?"

I shook my head and shrugged. "Not really, it just doesn't make sense in my mind. Scarring and blood don't have anything to do with each other."

"They do, sort of. When your tissue heals, the blood must contain a cell called thrombocyte. Thrombocytes clot the blood and help the wound heal, when there is something an injury as serious as that in the body, it produces a huge amount more. Once they have done their job, they stay in the blood stream. If they healed the injury properly it would take two or three weeks, and there would still be plenty of thrombocytes in the blood stream, however if they cut corners and the tissue scars, it takes only a week, maybe ten days. In that case, there is a much lower number. We're looking for the amount still in Nissa's blood."

"Whoa!" I said as my brain tried to cope with the huge amount of information I had been given. "Can you dumb it down a bit – understanding what you were saying earlier about scarring was hard enough."

Carlisle laughed softly. "Okay, then, simple stuff. We're looking for a very low number of a certain type of cell."

I widened my eyes at him and my forehead creased. "Why could you not just tell me that in the first place?"

He was spared answering by Nissa's voice. "Emmett?" This time, though her voice was soft, it was clear. I turned to check that she was awake. She hadn't moved since I last looked at her, but her wide blue eyes were open and staring at me.

"Yeah, love?" I asked as I moved closer to her.

"Have the results come back yet?" I almost cried at how tired she sounded.

I shook my head. "No, I'll wake you as soon as they do. Go back to sleep, you need it."

She mumbled a protested, but her eyes fluttered closed and soon her light snores picked up. I stood by her bed for a little longer, stroking her soft hair gently, enjoying the feel of it under my fingers.

Doctor Hallins stuck his head round the door. Hallins was the bloke that dealt with all the dead bodies that had to leave the hospital – so he naturally never smiled.

"Doctor Cullen, would you mind stepping out for a minute. I need to tell you something."

I knew that Carlisle hated morgue duty (a fact he had told me when Nissa was having one of her many check ups with Nurse Waters) so his depressed face was no real surprise.

"Of course, I'll be right out." Doctor Hallins nodded and retreated out of the room, leaving the door slightly open. Carlisle turned back to me. "You'll be fine here. It won't take a minute."

I nodded and he smiled then followed Hallins out of the room, the latch _clicked_ as the door swung shut. I looked back at Nissa, wishing that she would wake up with the same expression of contentment that she slept with. But I knew that that would not happen for a long time.

She smiled slightly, whatever she was dreaming about was making her happy. I realised as I studied the slight lift to her cheeks how much I missed Nissa's smile. How much I missed Nissa being _happy_.

The door opened and Carlisle walked through, his face was masked in worry. He clutched a large brown envelope in his hands. Without talking he passed it to me.

"It has both yours and Nissa's results in it," he said quietly as he handed them to me.

As my hands closed around them, I felt like I was shaking the hand of my executioner. I ran my finger under the edge of the envelope and pulled out the first white piece of paper.

Mr Emmett McCarty.

Blood test results.

Below that there was a lot of medical jargon that I didn't understand. A few lines had been crossed out and numbers were scribbled over and replaced with a messy handwritten number next to it. One word was highlighted in bright yellow.

Positive.

Relief spread through me like a drug as the fact sank in. I pulled out the other piece of paper. This one had no crossings out on it.

Mrs Nissa McCarty.

Blood test results.

This time before I searched for the highlighted word, a few sentences stood out. Mostly because I recognised words like 'thrombocytes' and 'D & C' because of Carlisle, other words like 'pregnancy' stood out for different reasons.

Nissa's results went over two pages, examined the first carefully, more carefully than I had my own. Mainly it was fear of what could be lurking on the other side. To stall, I glanced up, Carlisle had left. I sighed and turned the page over.

Negative.

The word hit me like a bullet, cancelling all of the relief I might have felt before. It was _negative_.

Nissa was still lying in front of me, a slight smile still playing on her face. Not for long. I gently shook her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open immediately and she started examining my face.

"What's wrong?" she demanded instantly.

Silently, numbly I held out the piece of paper. She took it with trembling hands, and read the word that had been carefully coloured by a kind member of staff.

"No." Her mouth moved but no sound came out. Tears gathered in her eyes and leaked out of the corners. Her lower lip trembled.

"No." She was louder this time, but it made it worse. She broke down, sobbing so hard that her whole body was shaking.

I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and held her as she cried. I felt her fists beat weakly against my chest.

"No," she sobbed again. "Please no. Tell me it's a joke. Emmett! Tell me!"

She pushed herself away from me and looked up into my eyes. Her eyelashes were wet from the tears and there were glistening pathways on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry." I said simply.

I hugged her close to me again as she wept. She buried her head into my shoulder, her arms hung limply by her side. I could feel the salt water staining my shirt and wetting the skin under my shoulder. I rubbed her back in small, comforting circles, remembering our honeymoon, the last time I could remember Nissa concentrating on something other than our child. Remembering how she looked with the sun bouncing off her tanned skin, her golden hair. Remembering how her eyes matched the blue of the sea exactly. Remembering how white her teeth were against her pink lips whenever she smiled her gorgeous smile.

I pulled her even close to me, resting my lips on her hair.

"I'm sorry," I said again. "I'm sorry."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

It was only to be expected and I really should have seen it coming. But I hadn't and remembering our discussion still came as a shock.

"_Emmett?" Her voice had been hoarse from crying._

"_Yes love?"_

_She turned her head and stared at my pleadingly. "Can you take me to my parents house? I don't want to go back home yet."_

_She words hit me like a physical blow to my heart. Of course she doesn't want to go back to a house full of memories, I told myself, but it didn't soften the blow anymore._

"_Oh…um…I…" The sudden blow had left me momentarily lost for words. But then what little sense I had came back. "Sure, do you want me to get you some clothes?"_

_She nodded and I stopped outside out house. I heard her whisper, "Thank you." But when I turned to looked at her, she was gazing out of her window, fresh tears springing up in her eyes._

_It was midday so Jotham wasn't home – a small mercy, but I was grateful. I grabbed a bag and pulled every single piece of Nissa's clothes out of the drawers and off hangers._

_Nissa was facing completely away from me when I returned and slung the bag into the back. Her forehead was pressed against the cool glass, her hair forming an impenetrable shield that I couldn't see through. I sighed and started the engine, driving quickly through the deserted streets, all other car owners were at work._

_Going around to Nissa's house always depressed me, it seemed to shout in my face all the things that Nissa had given up to marry me. The huge house was intimidating enough, minus her parents._

_Her mother had taken one look at her daughter before she practically pinned me against the wall. It was pathetic, I was six foot five and I was terrified of an old woman who actually wore shawls. LJ and the others would have a fit if they saw me._

"_What happened?" she demanded. I could almost imagine her waving a knife at me._

_Nissa was still standing awkwardly in the hall, staring very hard at a painting. She was blinking rapidly, trying to stop the tears building in her eyes. Nissa's mother followed my glance and within a minute was by her daughter's side, hugging and comforting her while I stood against a wall wishing that I could do that. But I was afraid of hurting her even more._

"_M…mum…I need t…to stay h…here," Nissa managed to stutter out._

"_Of course, darling. Your old room is still made and waiting. You can go up right away if that's what you want."_

_Nissa nodded shakily and moved away from her mother. I walked over to her and engulfed her in one of my bone-crushing hugs, trying to tell her everything through pure physical contact._

"_I…I'll see you soon." Nissa said into my shoulder._

"_I know. I love you, Nissa McCarty." I told her. I felt Nissa shudder as a sob wracked through her body._

"_I love you too." She had said and I had released her. As soon as she was free, she ran up the spiral staircase and into her old bedroom._

_Her mother had turned to me as soon as Nissa was out of sight, all traces of the caring-friendly-mom had disappeared, instead I got the knife-wielding-rottweiler-mom. Great, just great._

"_Tell me, in _one minute_, what happened today and what _you did to my daughter_."_

_She was like Jotham, finding a way to blame me for everything without even having evidence. But I knew that that was unfair, she was just worried sick about her daughter, just I was about my wife. I knew that if I was in her situation, I would be blaming my son-in-law as well._

_So I told her everything – starting from the months we got back from the honeymoon up to now. Of course, she knew most of the beginning stuff, and she knew why Nissa had lost her child, but it was scary how little she knew after that – how little Nissa had told her._

_When I was finished she sat back, and sighed loudly. "My poor Nissy…" she mumbled. Then the rottweiler seemed to remember that I was still sitting on her couch. "You can go," she said coldly. "This isn't the place for you."_

_I felt like shouting 'Of course it's the place for me! Wherever Nissa is will always be the place for me!' but I didn't. Instead, I got up meekly and walked to the door, like a puppy being growled at by an older dog._

"_Emmett?" she said in a much softer voice as I reached the door. "Thank you, for doing all this for her. I'll contact you the moment that she can see you."_

_I nodded, a sudden lump building in my throat as it hit again. _I won't be able to see Nissa. I've hurt her that much.

I snorted in disgust and turned away from the window. It was hard to keep reminding myself that it wasn't my fault that she left, but all I could really concentrate on was the fact that if I hadn't asked her to have the first abortion, we would never be in this situation.

"Are you _still_ moping?" The disapproving voice could only belong to Jotham, no one else would be able to criticise me at a time like this. "It's been three days, Emmett! Go to work, get together with some of your pathetic friends! Just stop being so…useless!"

Usually, I was very good at controlling my temper, but this time I couldn't reign it in. I stood up, faced Jotham and without saying a word, raised my fist and punched him hard in the face.

"Ow! Crap! You idiot Emmett! I think you broke my nose!"

_Good_, I thought as I slammed out of the house. I shoved my hands deep in my pockets and went down to the beach. It was a remarkably calm day, and there were no waves on the sea. I sat down on the nearest bench I could find, and glared at the sea. It was in that sea that I had proposed to Nissa.

There were several boats moored on the pier, and my eyes picked out Nissa's small sailing boat. She hadn't been sailing since the first child, scared that it would damage the baby in some way, and then she had been too depressed after that.

"Emmett!" I heard someone calling and reflex kicked in. I whirled around to see the newcomer, but he was behind a tree. He stepped out of his cover and my hopes soared as I saw that it was Nissa's father.

"Mr Gerritsen," I said respectfully, wishing that he would tell me that Nissa wanted to see me. "Is this about Nissa?"

He nodded and then hesitated. I felt like yelling at him to get on with it, I needed him to give me the permission I had been waiting for.

"Can I see her?" I prompted when he still said nothing.

He sighed and sat down on the bench I just vacated. "No, well, not right now. Nissa's mother didn't like seeing Nissa so unhappy, and being away from your house didn't seem to be helping so she's taken her on holiday."

What? She just took my wife away on holiday without even telling me? Was that _legal_? And did Nissa just agree to it, without thinking of what it would do to me? Now I could sort of understand what it felt like to be trampled by a horse. Although I suspect that this was a hell of a lot more painful.

"Where did they go?" I asked numbly, not really caring about the answer, just trying to find a way to escape as soon as possible.

Mr Gerritsen shrugged. "Lillian said that it was a private girl thing. They've probably gone to get their hair done. It's okay Emmett, Lillian knows what's best for Nissa – mother's always do."

Yeah, but did either of them consider what could be happening to Nissa when she sees what her _mother_ can do for her? Seeing as what she wants most in the world is to be a mother? Parents often did not know what was best for their child.

"And I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier."

Huh? What was this? "Earlier?" I asked, "When did they leave?"

Mr Gerritsen shrugged like it was no big deal. "Two days ago."

_Two days_? They had been gone for _two days _and no one had thought of telling me? While I had been going crazy deciding whether or not to go and knock on their door and demand to talk to Nissa?

But my fuming was cut off by a high-pitched scream from the other side of town. Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare in the general direction of the scream, as if they could see through the many buildings that blocked their sights. It was a long way to run, but I needed a distraction.

So I set off in search of the commotion, praying that it would take my thoughts away from my wife.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

There was a huge crowd gathered. And I mean _huge_, it seemed as if at least half of the town had turned up to see what was going on.

I joined at the back and joined everybody else stretching up on tiptoes to see what was going on. But, like the rest, the sheer mass of the people in the crowd meant that everything was blocked from sight.

A few people were winding their way back through the crowd, their faces all wore an identical mask of shock. Maybe someone famous had arrived unannounced. Maybe someone got very drunk and flew heard first into a tree and then spontaneously combusted splattering everyone with guts? I wished I could have seen the second one, it would have been pretty awesome and an extremely good way of taking my mind off Nissa.

Of course, I had an advantage that no one else had: I was the size of a bear. And I was as intimidating as one. So it was a really easy job of pushing through the crowd, glaring at anyone who had the guts to protest. I was in no mood to be stopped by an obnoxious midget. Thinking of obnoxious midgets, I hoped that Jotham would have got over our little fight by the time I got back – I was in no mood for another lecture.

Voices reached me before I could see anything.

"…could you not know?"

A screeching voice answered. "I just didn't! It's doesn't matter how! I just didn't! Now let me past!"

"We can't do that I'm afraid, ma'am…" He lowered his voice, probably so that the watching people could hear them.

I finally pushed passed the last row of people, a sudden passion entering my body because I thought I recognised those two voices. Sure enough, when I could finally see, I saw Carlisle talking to Nissa's mother. I frowned, Mr Gerritsen had said that they had gone on holiday. Which meant that if she was here, then so was Nissa. My heart soared as my eyes searched the scene for her beautiful face.

I couldn't see her. I double checked, but still nothing. However I did see LJ making his way towards me, trying to move quickly through the crowd.

"Emmett, I'm so sorry," he said as soon as I was near. The crowd around me turned towards me in shock when they heard my name.

"For wha-," I began to ask, but then I saw.

Everything froze. An unnatural stillness swept through the crowd, Carlisle and Mrs Gerritsen stopped murmuring to each other, as did the police who were gathered around, keeping the crowd back. LJ didn't move and didn't say anything. But none of that I cared about, because everything was focused on the makeshift stretcher, and the girl lying on it, even more unnaturally still than the crowd.

I drew several short, quick breaths, my mind unable to comprehend what I was seeing…And then the spell broke.

"NISSA!" I yelled and fought passed the police who were trying to keep me in place. They had no chance. I fought against their restraints and punched several of them before they let me go.

I tore across the space between us in less than a second. But being at her side didn't make anything any better.

"Nissa?" I cried, softer now I was closer. "Nissa? C'mon Nissa, wake up. You need to wake up Nissa."

I shook her shoulder gently, but increasingly harder as she refused to stir. She didn't even twitch. I moved my hand away. It was covered in blood. Her blood.

"Nissa? Please, Nissa, this isn't funny. Nissa! Just open your eyes!" I put both hands on her shoulders and shook her again. "Nissa? Come on! Just, please, I'm begging you Nissa, wake up. You can't leave me. You can't! Think of all the trouble that I'm going to get into without you? You can't leave me, you just can't! Oh please, come back to me Nissa! I can't function without you, I _need_ you! I'll do anything for you! Anything at all! Just wake up. Please. I need you to wake up and tell me that everything's going to be alright, I don't think I can pull through without you. We've always been together, you can't leave me. Nissa? Please, wake up."

But she wasn't going to. She couldn't. Even someone blind would know that I'm chasing a lost cause. But I couldn't admit it was lost just yet. Gently, I cradled her to me, supporting her head. I didn't care that the blood that was still seeping from the deep slashes that ran across her body were staining my clothes. I didn't care that she was so badly mutilated that it was almost impossible to recognise her. All I could see was the Nissa I loved and married.

"Nissa," I whispered again, but there was no reply. There would never be a reply. I hugged her closer to me than before, ignoring the coldness of her skin and how limp she was. I hugged her and closed by eyes, remembering all the good times I'd spent with her.

Our first meeting, I walked into her while I was carrying a bowl of beetroot soup. I remembered that she never complained about me spilling it, but she complained that people had terrible taste to enjoy beetroot soup. It had stained her perfectly white dress a deep purple.

Our dates out, to the most expensive places I could afford. And when I had no money to take her out, she would take me sailing on her brand new boat.

Our first kiss, we were out sailing because I had spent way to much money on our last date. The sail had swung around when I wasn't expecting it and knock me onto the floor. I was out for a few seconds and when I came around, Nissa was bending over me and I just sat up and kissed her on the lips.

Our engagement, the time when nothing was bothering us apart from hen nights and bachelor parties. And when there was nothing in the world apart from us two, together forever.

Our wedding, Nissa had looked so beautiful in her dress which ever so slightly resembled the one stained purple. And the sapphire earrings dripping from her ears, enhancing her sea-coloured eyes. Her happy tears when she said 'I do'. Our first kiss as Mr and Mrs McCarty.

Our honeymoon, the last time she had been happy with just me. When we were content only to be together, without the need for a child.

All of those were painful to remember now, but it was impossible of me to think of anything but Nissa. I didn't _want_ to think of anything but Nissa, I couldn't forget her, I had to remember her. I had to remember everything about her, no matter how much it hurt.

I remembered how she used to fidget in her sleep. It annoyed the hell out of me, especially when I was sleeping and she would accidentally kick me, and then she would laugh when I told her about it the next morning. I wished that she would kick me now.

The person who had tried to comfort me earlier gently took hold of Nissa's body and tried to pull her away.

"No." It sounded like I had been crying for hours, I lifted a hand to my cheek and discovered that there were tears there. I hadn't noticed.

"Emmett," Carlisle's voice was smooth and comforting. "Let her go, she can't stay here, not in front of the people. You'll be able to see her at her funeral."

"No." Her funeral? They were already planning it? What kind of sick people were they?

Carlisle's voice was even more gentle as he spoke again. "Emmett, her parents need to see her too. You have to let her go."

Let her go? The words were alien. I didn't think they understood that I couldn't let her go. If I let go, I might not ever be able to hold onto to her again. Carlisle seemed to realise that I wasn't going to give her up, so he took her from me. He was remarkably strong for a man of his age, and yet he prised her from my arms like taking the toy away from a baby.

_Baby_. The word still sent pangs of anxiety down me, but now they were mixed with a wave of pain so strong that I staggered back. This was all because I made her get rid of the baby, if I hadn't, she might have lived. She wasn't living now, and we got rid of it.

Carlisle's soft grip kept me up as he pulled me away from her. I fought every step, longing to go back to her side and prove everybody wrong and wake her up. Nissa would never let a little thing like that keep her down.

He sat me down on one of those fold out camping chairs. I used to love camping, I used to go with my friends every weekend before I met Nissa. Carlisle pressed something warm into my hand and I looked down to see a cup of tea in my hand. I had made Nissa a cup of tea four nights ago. She was shouting at me that night, but I no longer cared. I would happily go back to that night and reply it a thousand times because she was still breathing then. Fresh tears poured out of my eyes. _She was still breathing then_. And she wasn't anymore. She wasn't doing anything anymore. Except breaking my heart, which she was doing very thoroughly.

"Are you okay?" Carlisle asked. The last time he asked that question, it had been directed at Nissa. Why did she have to leave me? Why?

I looked at him. It was a stupid question. "What happened?" What happened to make her so bloody and ragged?

"She went camping with her mother," he told me without hesitation. He has obviously dealt with people who had lost loved ones, and he knew that saying anything else wouldn't be any good. "She told her mother that she wanted to go on a walk. Her mother says that she tried to persuade her against it, but she was adamant about going and so she did. Neither of them knew that the bears were just coming out of hibernation. She ran into one of them, and didn't survive the confrontation."

I blinked and a single tear fell out of my eye. A bear? From the day we had to decide whether she should have the surgery or not, every way that she could die entered my head, from the stress, from a surgery, anything that was a threat. But never a bear. And that had killed her, because I refused to look at the obvious things. It was my fault.

"It isn't your fault," Carlisle told me, as if he could read my mind. "Whatever reason you have, it isn't. She's gone, but it isn't your fault and no one blames you."

"But it _is_ my fault, there are so many reasons."

"Which I don't need to know to tell you that they are illogical and no one else has formed them. It doesn't matter what you are blaming yourself for, this isn't your fault. I can guarantee that everyone here is always blaming themselves."

I looked away, he was comforting me, and I knew that he was wrong. I saw Nissa's parents staring at her, clutching each other and weeping freely. I wrapped my arms around myself, they had someone to hold onto, someone to love. I didn't. I was alone now.

_Why did you leave me, Nissa? Just tell me why?_ I prayed silently, but there was no answer. There never would be.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The next few days passed by me. I was in a daze, not managing to function on my own. Marshall, LJ, James, Robert and a few others had to drag me away from Nissa's body, I couldn't leave her but I had to.

Jotham took one look at my lost, haunted face and my bloody clothes before running off to fetch blankets and make me something to drink. I didn't notice that he was being nice, all I could think about was the first time Nissa stepped into the house, she turned around and glared at me.

"If you want to come round again, you'll have to do some cleaning." The words echoed in my head like a lullaby, soft and enchanting me. And I did tidy, because I wanted her to come back, I wanted her to come back all the time.

I can't remember what came next, all I remember was the numbing blackness of unconsciousness. When I woke, it was dark outside.

I glanced around, confused. Why was I lying on my sofa covered in blankets in my gym clothes? Then it hit me, and I sank back down onto the sofa. Nissa… The pain reared high again, but so did the blackness. I slipped into sleep.

It carried on like that for two days, not being able to move because every time I did more and more memories of Nissa would crash into my mind.

Then, after two days, Jotham shook me awake. Light was pouring in from the window, the sun was high in the sky. It was a perfect day, no clouds anywhere. It was the sort of day that Nissa would have loved, she would have run straight to the beach and gone sailing, laughing at me when I swan along next to her.

"Emmett?" Jotham said when I opened my eyes. "You need to get up, it's the funeral today and you can't be late."

I looked up at him, not really seeing his face; instead I was seeing all the memories of Nissa that went with him.

"Come on, Emmett." I winced in pain. I had used those words to try and wake Nissa up. Jotham slid an arm under me and heaved me into a sitting position. Then he levered me out of the couch. I stared around the sitting room. All the times I had sat here with Nissa…

"It's an open casket funeral, Em." Jotham told me. The words look a minute to process, but when they did a sudden energy flooded me. Jotham directed me out of the house, but I wasn't concentrating on where he was taking me. Open casket meant that I would be able to see Nissa one last time.

The church that Nissa and I married no longer held the happiness that it used to. Now, with the long line on mourners streaming in, it seemed to be cloaked in sadness. I wondered how many other people saw this church as the place they saw their loved ones last.

Jotham and I joined at the back, he kept a strong grip on my arm – I wasn't sure why, maybe it was his way of comforting him. I spotted a few of my old friends, some gave me a half hearted wave or nodded in acknowledgement, but I ignored them. They were just reminders of my darling Nissa…

In a rare show of compassion, Marshall came up to me, his face grim. "I know that this is the last thing you want to hear Emmett," Marshall began. If it was the last thing that I wanted to hear, why was he telling me? I didn't want to be bombarded with his memories of Nissa, I already had my own. "But we want you to know. We all love you, as a friend of course, and we know it's going to be hard, but we're going to be there if you need us."

Love you…how many times had I spoken those words to Nissa? Even if I said them a million times it would have been too little. I should have told her every second of every day.

Jotham led me down the small aisle between the benches, then subtly left me to climb the seven steps to where she lay.

She lay immobile on the padded floor of her coffin. Her blonde hair splayed out in a halo around her delicate face. Her pale skin was marred with long stitched lines, a doctor must have stitched her up to look more human. Probably Carlisle.

I wiped a tear away, and put a shaking hand on her hair. The golden waves shook under my touch, but I was crying too hard to stop it. I blinked hard, trying to stop the tears that splattering onto her plain white dress. I blinked a couple more times, and realised that I recognised her dress. And her sapphire earrings and necklace. It was her wedding outfit, and all I could see was her smiling face as she walked down the aisle of this church.

_Oh Nissa, you've already broken my heart; you don't need to break it again._ But she was. As I looked at her, all I could see was the Nissa that married. I picked up her left hand and admired her wedding ring. It gleamed in the gloomy church. I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed the gold.

"I love you, Nissa." The words came out choked. "I miss you."

She was so peaceful in death, heartbreakingly so. More peaceful than she had ever been in the final months of her life. I still longed to shake her to wake her up, but I didn't have the will to anymore.

Her parents were waiting behind me when I turned around. The desperation that was in my heart must have shown on my face, because her mother looked alarmed.

"Emmett? Are you okay?" she asked. Maybe she wasn't as cold hearted as I thought.

"Fine." I mumbled in a knee-jerk reaction. I don't think they believed me, but they were more anxious to see their daughter so they let me stumble outside, my thoughts consumed with Nissa.

I loved her, but I couldn't deal with the pain of loving someone who I would never be able to love me back. I was going to take the coward's way out. I was going to go hiking.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The Appalachian mountains contain some of the most stunning scenery in the world. Endless mountains sprayed out in every direction. At sunset, the normal browns and greens were transformed into pinks, red and oranges from the suns light. I always loved the mountains, there was always an adventure to go on.

They are also a hot spot bears. Every year, there would be a large group of men that went out to purge the mountains of bears to make them safer for tourists. I wish they had done it sooner, if they had, I would still be cradling Nissa in my arms.

I was climbing up one of the higher mountains, the bears were just coming our of hibernation and we were always warned not to mess with them at this time; no one wanted to meet an irritable grizzly. No one expect the sensationally mad or suicidal, as Nissa used to say. Once again, I felt my heart tear as her name ran through my mind. I pushed her name down, beneath all of my memories, I didn't want to lost courage now. I wanted to join her.

I swung my hand up to the next handhold. The gold of my wedding band flashed and momentarily blinded me. I swore as another memory shot into my brain, causing my heart to break again. She was so beautiful, painfully beautiful. My memories had dredged up all the time that she had laughed and put them into one. Her smile…

I scrambled up the rest of the cliff that I was climbing and sat on top, my legs dangling off the edge. There, I tore the ring off my finger. It was the only possession I had left that told the world I loved a girl. I couldn't wear it anymore, it just reminded me that I loved a girl but not enough to keep her safe. I loved her through sickness and health, and in death do we part. But the parting was not at all easy, instead it was the hardest thing I had ever done. But I couldn't live while she wasn't. It bounced against a rock and then it fell silent. A piece of my heart broke away with the ring, but there was plenty left to break.

Just below the summit was a bear's den. This was where Nissa had breathed her last, this was where the animal that ruined my life lived. This is where I want to die. It held no memories of her, so I wouldn't be forced to remember certain things, I wanted to remember what I _wanted_ to remember.

I bent down and picked up a large rock from the ground. It was heavy, a bit bigger than my palm. I threw it up and caught once or twice before throwing it with all my strength into the cave. A muffled _thud_ and then a loud roar followed. An angry grizzly bear came shooting out, blood dripping from a cut above it's eyebrow. _Nice aim_, I congratulated myself like my friends used to.

It took one look at before charging, throwing all it's weight into me. I crashed to the ground, my spine jarring at the impact. But before the bear could finish me off, I rolled over and jumped to my feet. The bear swung around again and growled, baring it's impressive teeth at me. Did it do this to her? Or did it just kill her?

I roared in anger and ran towards it like it had done to me. It met me in the middle. A heavy paw connected with my temple and I cried out as a stabbing pain shot through my body. In return, I grabbed a fistful or fur and pulled, the bear snarled in fury. It leapt up and I ducked, helping it fly over me and into the stone cliff. More blood matted it's fur.

I backed up slowly as it took slow steps towards me. I was done for, I was no match for a bear, just as she was no match for it either. One swipe of it's huge paw created long cuts down my stomach. I tried to punch back, but I was weak from the blood loss and all I succeeded with was tickling it's stomach.

The bear stood back on it's hind legs, towering over me. It's mouth pulled up into a savage grin and it batted me down like I was nothing more than a rag doll. I felt the ground vibrate as it fell back to all fours on top of me.

Another swipe and it's claws dug deep into my arm. I yelled out in pain and fear. I was going to die right here and now, this is it. It lowered it's head to my neck in order to bite it and I closed my eyes, wrapping myself in all of my happiest memories.

I felt it's hot breath on my cheek and it's claws digging into my flesh. I grimaced with pain as it's teeth sliced into my shoulder.

Then it was gone. I could no longer feel it biting me, and there were no claws digging into my skin. I jumped in surprise as a loud _smack_ reverberated through the clearing, a low whine followed and then it fell silent. I was delirious from the pain, and it was a struggle to even twitch a finger, let alone open my eyes to see what was going on. I felt something cold and smooth slide under me, and then cold air rushed against my skin. It felt like I was flying. I _had _to see.

With a Herculean effort, I opened my eyes and realised that the reason I could no longer feel the bear was because it had killed me. I had died and gone to heaven because an angel was carrying me in her arms as she flew with me to heaven.


	21. Chapter 21

**To all of my readers - I'm so sorry about the length of time since I last updated. I posted this story on a lot of sites, and I obviously forgot to update this one. It's been finished for ages now, so I'm really sorry. Thanks to teamEMandRO for mentioning it to me!**

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Chapter 21

I looked up at her as she flew with me, her beautiful blonde hair trailed behind her, whipping around her face in the wind. She carried me as if I weighed nothing; I suppose I didn't to an angel.

She looked down, biting her lip hard. She looked almost _hungry_ as she examined my wounds. She blinked and a small smile stretched on her face.

"You're going to be okay," she said in a remarkably beautiful voice. I smiled as best I could, but the pain was becoming almost unbearable. Maybe she wasn't taking me to heaven, maybe this was hell. I didn't care; as long as she stayed close by I could endure anything.

The landscape was blurring passed so quickly that I couldn't focus on anything, angels can fly fast. I stopped concentrating on the mountain scenery; instead I focused on the perfection of her face. She was the most beautiful creature in the world. At times, a shadow of something darker consumed her face and she would look down at my bloody body as if she wanted to do nothing more than consume me, but then it would pass and she would murmur another reassurance.

At one point, when she accidentally shook me slightly and caused the pain to rise high, I whimpered. She immediately looked down at me, checking that I was still breathing. "It's okay," she told me, "I'm taking you to someone who will make it all feel better. All those pains will go away, I promise." She was so kind.

The journey could have taken a second, it could have taken a millennia. In whatever case, it wasn't long enough. I only managed to see a large, brick house before I was whisked inside, still in her arms. There was another person, another angel I guess, but she was nowhere near as beautiful as the one who held me.

"Rosalie!" The other one exclaimed in surprise when she saw me. "What happened? Who's this?"

Rosalie looked at her anxiously. "Where's Carlisle?" Those names stirred feint memories which were buried deep beneath my pain.

"I'm here." A deeper voice said. It sounded further away. "What do you- Emmett?"

I recognised that voice as well. But the cool darkness was coming ever closer and I couldn't concentrate on anything but my angel's face.

"Carlisle, I need you to change him. Please," my angel begged, a helplessness entering her voice. "He's dying and I don't want him to."

_Dying_? I though that I was already dead.

"Please," she said once more. I didn't know what the other one said, but it must have been something good because her face lit up in hope. My breathing became uneven, she was so beautiful…I didn't pay attention to what was going on, or what Carlisle was doing, because all I could see was her stunning face. It made me feel warm just to look at her.

Then I was distracted from everything that was real and good because the warmth was becoming more and more unbearable. Heat seared through my veins, it felt like someone had lit me on fire. I breathed in deeply, as if the cool air could put out flames, but nothing worked.

If it was possible, the fire got hotter. My eyes whipped open and I yelled out in pure agony. Why had they brought me here? Couldn't they just kill me instead of this? The temperature rose yet again and I screamed.

"KILL ME!" I begged to whoever was standing over me.

"I'm sorry," whoever it was said in response. "The pain will end, I promise you. The pain will go away."

An eternity passed, but the heat was still searing through my veins. I begged, pleaded, threatened, ordered and screamed at them to kill me, but they ignored me. Sometimes, one of them would tell me some fanciful story about changing me into a vampire. I didn't care what I was changing into, I just wanted to die.

At one point, just Rosalie sat beside me. She held my hand in hers and stroked in gently, apologising every time I screamed. I rolled onto my side, trying to extinguish the nonexistent flames, and stared at her pleadingly.

"_Please_," I begged. "Please kill me; the pain is not worth anything."

She just stroked my hair and said, "It gets better. You only have to live through another few hours. I promise it will all get better."

I screamed again as another bolt of pain wracked through me. The fire flared even hotter than before, and I cried out.

"Sorry," Rosalie said again. I closed my eyes, willing to die with all of my heart. I couldn't imagine what I did to deserve this.

The fire started to cool, not much, but I could definitely feel a decrease in temperature. Slowly but surely, the heat dimmed in my legs, and then slowly lessened in my torso. My arms and hands cooled and the fire in my chest faded. But the warmth in my throat stayed the same.

There was an odd silence in the room, and I realised that I could no longer hear my pounding heart. I froze. How long had I been able hear that? There were four sets lungs breathing shallowly around me and I opened my eyes.

"Emmett?" a male voice to the right of me asked.

I looked and blinked, the man standing there was very familiar, but it was like I was seeing him for the first time.

"Are you okay?" A different voice spoke up from my left and I moved my head so quick that I didn't even notice the change. My mouth dropped as I looked at the most stunning girl in the world. I never saw anything more beautiful than her, and I never wanted to be anywhere else than by her side. But there was a more pressing need that over shadowed my want for her.

"I'm really hungry? No, I'm thirsty. I need to _drink_." I blinked at the voice that came out. That wasn't my voice, was it? I tried to remember, but all of my memories where fuzzy and indistinct, like viewing everything through a filter.

"Of course," Rosalie told me. "Do you want me to explain the changes you've been through first?"

"NO! I want to drink _something_, I need to drink something!"

I saw Rosalie exchange a quick glance with Carlisle and then she nodded at me. "Follow me, I'll take you hunting."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Two Years Later

The picked up a handful of soft sand, enjoying the feeling as it slipped through my fingers. When I only had one grain left on my palm, I stopped. The sand particle would be invisible to the human eye, but it was clear to me. As fast as I could, I crushed the sand between two fingers and it split into several smaller pieces. I picked up another handful of sand.

All of us were hunting today, but we had found a small, deserted beach. Edward and Carlisle were standing a little way away from me, Esme and Rosalie were swimming. Edward had his back to me and Carlisle was staring out at the waves. They were probably trying to figure out why waves broke or something, they were so boring. I glanced down at the sand in my hand, maybe I should make things more interesting...

With a quick flick of my wrist, I sent the sand sailing towards Edward at a hundred miles an hour. But he was quicker. Just as I threw, he leapt out of the way, letting the sand hit the cliff, causing a few pieces of rock to cascade onto the beach. He laughed at me.

"Cheater!" I yelled at him, but he didn't pay any attention to me.

It had been two years since Carlisle changed me into a vampire, and for most of that time I had been thirsty, not paying attention to anything apart from blood. I was more controlled now, and I had managed to talk to a human without ripping his head. Although I was severely tempted to, he reminded me so much of Jotham. My throat closed up slightly, and if I could cry, tears would be welling up in my eyes.

My memories of Nissa always snuck up on me at the least expected times. Although my human memories were of such poor quality that I can barely remember her face, I still miss her a lot. Thankfully, Rosalie never knew about Nissa. Carlisle never told her about us, patient-doctor privilege and Edward didn't really like Rose, so he never bothered to tell her. I heard Edward sigh, he hated when I started brooding on my past. Stupid mind reader. Maybe if I just 'accidently' hit him with a rock?

"That's not going to work, Emmett," he called to me. He turned to grin at me as I swore at him in my mind, then a confused look passed over his face. "Emmett, what are yo–"

"Emmett!" Rosalie interrupted him as she strode out of the sea. Water was dripping from her hair and down her body. My mind went blank as I stared at her. She must be a goddess; there was no way anything that beautiful could exist. I heard Edward laugh under his breath and I glared at him.

"What are you glaring at?" Rosalie asked as she neared me.

"Darling Eddiekins is laughing at us." I told her. She swung round and glared at him as well. He put on his 'I'm so innocent' face.

"Go away Edward! I want to talk to Emmett!" Rose shouted at him.

Carlisle rolled his eyes at our antics and grabbed Eddie's arm, pulling away. It sounded like he muttered 'Leave them' but couldn't be sure.

Before Edward disappeared into the trees, he turned and called. "I'm expecting a yes."

Esme looked at me in confusion, I shrugged and she shrugged back, waving at us before running after Carlisle.

Rose smiled at me and sat down on my lap. I kissed her cheek and she giggled. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders and I hugged her closer to me, her hair smelt of roses and lavender and seaweed.

"Your hair smells of seaweed." I said.

She pulled back out of my grasp and hit me on the head. "That's _so_ unromantic, Emmett!"

I blinked. Romantic? "Huh? Was that a romantic moment?"

"Men! You are so insensitive." She sighed deeply.

I wound my arms around her waist and pulled her back to me. She didn't struggle, but she didn't kiss me either. Was I supposed to say something else to make up for it?

"I put my lips her ear and whispered, "You also smell of roses and lavender, and you look so much prettier than everything else in the world. Even a goddess of beauty would look like a warthog next to you."

She patted my head. "See? You do know the right thing to say sometimes."

The right thing? It reminded me of Edward's words earlier, 'I expect a yes'. Did he just want to get revenge for the time I was playing football with a bowling ball and I kicked it into his piano. I mean, it wasn't like a piano couldn't be _fixed_.

I gently pushed Rosalie off my lap. I saw a flash of hurt across her face, but it disappeared as I slid onto one knee and pulled a small box out of my pocket. My hand was perfectly steady; after all, I had done this before.

"Rosalie Lillian Hale Cullen, I've loved you since the minute I saw you. And I promise that I will love you for the rest of my existence. Will you marry me?"

Rose gasped as I opened the box. I had found the ring in an antiques sale, and it had cost me the best part of eleven thousand dollars, but it was worth. The band of the ring was thin, made out of white gold. Close to the middle, the gold split and swirled around in delicate patterns, creating the shape of a beautiful white rose. The gaps between the lines were filled with diamonds and rubies.

"It's beautiful," Rosalie said, her eyes glued to the ring. She blinked once and looked at me, a tender look in her eyes. "Of course I'll marry you, Emmett. Of course I will."

I slid the ring onto her finger, where it through off any light that hit it. I stood up and Rose immediately hugged me with such force that it hurt. Not many people had the strength to do that these days. I put a finger underneath her chin and lifted her head up slowly, her eyes were burning with happiness. I leaned down to kiss her, my lips as eager for this kiss as hers. _I love you_, I thought to her.

The kiss was gentle, but it grew in passion. Rose knew exactly what I wanted, and I knew what she would like in return. When we drew away, Rosalie laid her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. Her cool breath blew the shirt into my skin, I could feel her smile.

She took a step back from me, our hands were still entwined. A huge smile played across her face. She looked me up and down and her smile faltered, so did my heart. What had I done?

"What are you wearing?" she asked. Oh, okay. Now I understand.

I looked down at my top. "I got it on sale."

"It's got Barney the Dinosaur on it."

I nodded happily. "Everyone loves Barney! And watch this!" I pressed the tip of Barney's nose and the t-shirt started singing.

_I love you _

_You love me _

_We're a happy family _

_With a great big hug and _

_A kiss from me to you _

_Won't you say you love me too? _

I giggled like a little girl. This top was the coolest top in the whole world.

"Emmett!" Rosalie yelled at me. Uh-oh. She turned on her heel and stalked off, her hands were balled into fists.

"Rose! Wait! It was a joke, baby!" I cried as I ran after her.

She was half way up the path to the forest when I caught up with her. I wrapped my arms around her waist, swinging her around to face me.

"Don't get mad, Rose. I'll sell the top." I said.

She sighed and half smiled. "I would be happier if you burned the top."

"How's this?" I asked and ripped the top to pieces. Bye bye Barney…

Rosalie's half smile turned into a full smile. "Much better."

I smiled back. "I love you, Rose."

Love filled her eyes. "I love you, Emmett."


	23. Epilogue Rose's POV

Epilogue

The Wedding – Rose's Point of View

How many times had I dreamed of the perfect wedding when I was human? How many times had I longed for the perfect man? How many tears had I cried at the fact that I would never find one? All of it was irrelevant as I stepped into view of the audience, my hand resting on Carlisle's elbow.

The were sighs on envy from both sides and I could see the longing in men's eyes. My hair was piled on top of my head loosely. A few chosen strands framed my cheeks. I could feel my engagement ring pressing into my cool finger. The clusters of gems shimmered in the dull light.

I was the most beautiful thing in the room, apart from one other person. Emmett stood at the altar, his innocent face radiating joy. His eyes matched mine, we had both hunted yesterday and the gold shone. I was telling the truth, I was the most beautiful thing in the room, but Emmett was the most handsome. We made a fitting couple, a perfect couple. We were the couple that I always used to read about and dream about while I was still human.

Carlisle walked with me at an annoyingly human pace with me down the aisle. I wanted to run, to get there quicker. It was also me who insisted on a large, fairytale wedding though.

Despite the achingly slow pace, Emmett was getting closer, his grin illuminating everyone near him. Edward stood slightly behind him as best man while Esme played the piano with a full band behind her.

Carlisle stopped and placed my hand in his, Emmett squeezed it slightly, reassuring me. If I had beating heart still, it would have been flying. We both turned to face the minister and he began the vows. I could tell that Emmett wasn't really paying attention because I could feel his gaze caressing my face. I tightened my grip on his hand slightly, trying to communicate to him to _pay attention_. Emmett could get into allsorts of trouble when his attention wandered.

I clung to every word that the minister said. This was my wedding and I would never forget a single detail of it. I would remember that the minister had a low, rich voice and that while he was talking, Emmett's thumb traced small patterns on my palm. I would remember every single time that one of the audience moved their leg, I would remember that I blinked twenty four times a minute to keep up appearances, and I would remember that Emmett had rolled his weight onto his left leg once, bringing him closer to me. I would remember how clear my voice was when I vowed "I do." And I would remember how happy Emmett sounded when he replied. I would remember the slight accent the minister had when he said, "You may kiss the bride." I would remember the feeling of Emmett's lips on mine – the first time we had kissed as husband and wife. I would remember the feeling of his body pressed against mine and we danced our first dance. I would remember his easy smile whenever I said something, he always found me funny. I would remember every singly detail of my fairytale wedding until the day I cease to exist, because it was the most perfect day of my life. Nothing in my life had compared.

"So is the wedding that you always dreamed of?" Emmett asked as we danced.

He twirled me gracefully and then drew me back to his body. "No. This wedding is a thousand times better. None of my old dreams ever had you in them."

"I first saw you when I was human. You came into a pub I was drinking in. From that day on, you've always been in my dreams. You've always been in my every thought." His lips kissed the ear they had just been whispering in.

I hugged myself closer to him, breathing in her beautiful scent. I had to keep telling myself that was real, that this was really happening. As I looked into Emmett's eyes, my breath caught and I clung to him like my life depended on it. Emmett was my everything, now and for ever.


End file.
